You should take most of what many sellors write in their desciptions with a grain of salt. Maybe whoever sed it thought it was used on a boat. Anyway, there is no such derivation re: "ships." This is neither an interesting, valuable, or collectibile glass piece. Just a standard, plain glass paperwaight for use on a desk. And, since the seller is from Germany, the primary provenance is that it's German made. Certainly, i's nothing special at all, but at least you didn't pay too much for it.