The amount of damage the Merchant Ship deals is shown on its Merchant Card under the Market Mat. In order to sink a Merchant Ship, you must deal MORE to the ship than the damage it deals. A tie in doesn’t sink a Merchant Ship.

If you sink a Merchant Ship:

1. Collect the Booty carried by the Merchant Ship and gain the amount of Gold shown on its Merchant Card. If you don’t have enough room for the cube, you must discard it or discard a cube on your ship (back to the bag) to make room for it.

2. Discard the Merchant's card from the game and draw a new card to replace it, placing it face-up in the now-vacant spot under the Market Mat.

3. Move the Merchant Ship onto the Map Card with a Port that is furthest from your Pirate Ship (counting the cards orthogonally) and point it toward the opposite Port. If both Ports are equidistant, you choose which Port it moves to.

4. Draw a new Booty from the bag and place into the Merchant Ship.

When you sink an 8 Merchant Ship, you no longer replace the card. Instead reset the Merchant Ship as normal, but keep using the same card.

Sinking certain Merchants causes you to increase your Legend Level on your Legend Mat. Note whether there is a Gain Legend icon on the ship's card, and how many players are in the game. For instance, “1-2 ” applies to a 1-or-2-player game and not a 3-or-4-player game.

If you tie the Merchant, you gain 1 Sure-fire Token but are not Jostled. In either instance, the Merchant does not sink and you and the Merchant remain on the same Map Card.