Father figure returning on ship (9)
I believe the answer is:
freighter
'ship' is the definition.
(freighter is a kind of ship)
'father figure returning on' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'fr' (abbreviation as in a priest's title).
'figure' becomes 'eight' (eight is a number).
'returning' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'on' becomes 're' ('on' can be mean 'with reference to').
're' backwards is 'er'.
'fr'+'eight'+'er'='FREIGHTER'
(Other definitions for freighter that I've seen before include "Cargo ship" , "A plane carrying large load" , "Cargo-ship" , "Cargo-carrying ship or plane" , "transport vessel" .)