Vessel west of region's docks (9)
I believe the answer is:
subtracts
'docks' is the definition.
'vessel west of region's' is the wordplay.
'vessel' becomes 'sub' (sub is a kind of vessel**).
'west of' says to put letters next to each other.
'region's' becomes 'tracts' (both can mean a large piece of land).
'sub'+'tracts'='SUBTRACTS'
(Another definition for subtracts that I've seen is " Deducts, takes away".)
I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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