Cargo Ship is a roaming loot event that circles the Rust map — clear it and you walk away rich. This guide covers when it spawns, the crates and scrap it carries, the locked crate event, and how to take and hold the ship against other players.
When it spawns
Cargo Ship spawns roughly every 1–2 hours and sails a route around the map’s edge. A server-wide alert announces it, so the whole server knows it’s here — expect company, and expect to fight for it.
The loot
A full Cargo run yields around five elite crates, ten military crates and a stack of basic crates — averaging close to 1,300 scrap plus high-tier components and weapons. The headline prize is the locked crate, which you activate and then defend until it opens, giving elite loot on par with the best in the game.
How to take it
- Board with a boat — a RHIB is ideal; tie it off or keep someone with it so it isn’t stolen.
- Clear the scientists — they patrol the decks and hit hard; bring armour, a good gun and meds.
- Activate and hold the locked crate — the timer makes it a defend-the-point fight against NPCs and players.
- Mind the water — falling off without a plan to get back up usually means death.
Solo or team?
Cargo is doable solo if it’s uncontested, but it’s a PvP magnet — most successful runs are a small team that can fight off third-parties while one person works the crate. For the static water events, see our Oil Rig guide.
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