For a Transport Fever 3 ship not loading oil, check that the ship supports crude oil and that the pickup stop is configured to load it. For a ship-to-road transfer, put a warehouse within both stations' catchment areas and select crude oil for its liquid module. Building specialised liquid storage alone does not confirm that the vehicle, stored cargo, and pickup settings match.
What should I check when the ship reports incompatible cargo?
Check the vehicle's supported cargo
In the vehicle store, use the cargo bar to filter for crude oil, then inspect the selected vehicle's cargo specialization. Check the road vehicle too: a cargo ship or horse-drawn vehicle label alone is not enough to establish oil compatibility.
Enable oil at the actual pickup stop
Open the line manager. In its bottom area, click the stop's configuration button or cargo icons. Select crude oil for loading and check its load percentage. Loading choices are configured separately for each stop, so check every oil pickup on the line.
Check the transfer warehouse and station coverage
Select the harbor and the road station to inspect their catchment areas. Buildings and warehouses that can transfer cargo are highlighted blue, or white when passenger transfer is also available. The warehouse must be within the relevant station's catchment radius; it does not need road access.
For the onward connection, use cargo transfers. If the resource lies outside coverage, see connecting distant industries and moving stations and buildings.
Check what the liquid module actually stores
Open the warehouse's Stocks section. Each row shows a module's supported cargo and current stock. Click a specialized module's cargo icons to choose crude oil. Check the stock itself rather than assuming a liquid tank contains the oil the next vehicle needs.
A specialization mismatch can reduce loading speed. That speed penalty alone does not establish why a vehicle refuses cargo. The final cause of the reported “Help, ship wont pick up oil” case is not confirmed yet: selecting oil and adding a liquid storehouse did not resolve it in the available material.
Should I use universal or specialised liquid storage?
Universal warehouse
A universal warehouse can store a mix of all cargo types and is a cost-efficient generic option. It avoids the one-cargo-per-specialized-module restriction.
Specialised liquid storage — recommended for liquid transfers
Specialized storage freezes the cargo item's delivery timer and enables faster loading and unloading. Each module stores only one cargo type at a time. Crude oil and fuel require two modules, even though both belong to the Liquid category.
How do I add fuel without replacing crude oil storage?
- Add a second liquid storage module for fuel while retaining the crude oil module.
- Edit the road line's oil refinery stop to load fuel. The demonstrated barrel-equipped horse-drawn carriages can carry both crude oil and fuel; check compatibility for your own vehicle.
- Edit the ship line's pickup stop to load fuel as well. Enabling it on the road line does not configure the ship's stop.
Harbor landings have no passenger-versus-cargo distinction. A shared passenger and cargo harbor is not, by itself, evidence of oil incompatibility. Large ships do require large landings. If cargo loads but fails to leave the ship, continue with ships not unloading cargo.