Well, a channel surrounds this ship (8)
I believe the answer is:
dispatch
'ship' is the definition.
(I know that dispatch is a kind of ship)
'well a channel surrounds' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'well' could be 'spa' (both can mean a spring or water source) and 'spa' is found in the answer.
'channel' could be 'ditch' (a channel or trench in the ground) and 'ditch' is located in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'this' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dispatch that I've seen before include "Kill, send off" , "alacrity" , "Sort of rider" , "Execution" , "making killing" .)