Thanks ship for news agency (4)
I believe the answer is:
tass
'news agency' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)
'thanks ship' is the wordplay.
'thanks' becomes 'ta' (UK informal version of 'thank you').
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'ta'+'ss'='TASS'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tass that I've seen before include "Soviet Union's official news agency" , "old news agency" .)