Contract • Solo / Duo / Trio / Quatro
The Cargo Ship Robbery
Prepare a Coast Guard disguise and Skylift, board the La'oub Princess, mark the correct container and escort it ashore.
CARGO / SHIP / ROBBERY01
Complete financial model
7 days • limit: 3 / reset • shared poolA shared limit of three Salvage Yard robberies per rotation; reset every 7 days.
Verified permanent rules
Salvage Yard board rule
- The board selects three of the five robbery types and three target cars for the weekly rotation.
- The shared limit is three cars; each of the three can be completed only once in that rotation.
- There is no permanent first-weekly bonus and no guarantee that an unfinished robbery survives the reset.
- A finale participant receives a community-reported flat $50,000 regardless of the car; completing every Elite Challenge can add an optional $50,000, up to $100,000 total (confidence C). The calculator does not treat this amount as a percentage of target value.
value goes to the business owner; helpers receive no cut from this sale
02
Complete step-by-step operation
OPERATIONS GUIDE V2 • SOLO
Prepare a Coast Guard disguise and Skylift, board the La'oub Princess, mark the correct container and escort it ashore.
Start here
- Buy a Salvage Yard through Maze Bank Foreclosures and complete its setup with Yusuf and Jamal.
Select “The Cargo Ship Robbery — complete flow” from the wall board when the robbery is in the current offering.
The planning room inside your Salvage Yard.
The robbery board: Scope Out, Planning Work, Tasks and finale.
- The Tow Truck, staff and upgrades unrelated to the robbery board are not required for the finale.
First run and replay
These are two persistent story instructions. They are not the finance calculator's weekly-variant switch.
First story playthrough
The first “The Cargo Ship Robbery — complete flow” run includes Scope Out, its listed Planning Work, Tasks and the vehicle-recovery finale.
Story replay
Select the robbery again only when it returns to the board under the existing availability rule; this guide does not copy payout or reset figures from the finance model.
Official mission order
- 01
prep / preparation Scope Out: Docks
Scope the La'oub Princess and the docks needed for boarding.
- 02
prep / preparationoptional Planning Work: Disrupt Air Support
Destroy the helicopters threatening the Skylift.
- 03
prep / preparation Task: Bolt Cutters
Acquire the cutters used to open the containers.
- 04
prep / preparation Task: Flares
Acquire flares used to mark the correct container.
- 05
prep / preparation Task: Boat
Prepare a boat for the approach to the ship.
- 06
prep / preparationoptional Task: Masks
Acquire masks that reduce the later security pursuit.
- 07
prep / preparation Planning Work: Skylift
Steal the Skylift used to lift the container from the ship.
- 08
prep / preparation Planning Work: Sabotage and Disguise
Destroy the ship records and acquire the Coast Guard outfits.
- 09
finale The Cargo Ship Robbery
Board the ship, mark the container, escort the Skylift and deliver the car.
Strategies that genuinely change the route
Anchor chain, container, Skylift escort
- When
- After disguises, record sabotage, Skylift, bolt cutters, flare and transport.
- Plan
- Board by the anchor chain, search containers using bridge data, mark the correct one with the flare and escort the Skylift to its city drop.
- Trade-off
- A quiet bridge shortens deck combat; regardless of entry, protecting the slow Skylift remains the priority.
Plan for the selected team: SOLO
Selected in the calculator • SOLO for “The Cargo Ship Robbery — complete flow”: SOLO operator: Boarding lead + Bridge and container operator + Flare operator + Air escort.
Concrete roles
Leads transport to the anchor chain and opens the route to the bridge. Searches the captain, uses the terminal and matches indicated containers. Marks only the target-car container and confirms Skylift pickup. Takes the Sea Sparrow and destroys helicopters attacking the Skylift.
Actions, risk and run recovery
- 01
prep / preparationScope Out: Docks - Action
- Photograph the La'oub Princess, its access points and containers at the docks to establish the boarding and extraction plan.
- Tip
- In Scope Out: Docks photograph the ship, entry points and container area.
- Risk / failure condition
- Incomplete scope-out hides the boarding or container extraction route.
- How to recover the run
- Return to the vantage point, capture the missing view and wait for Jamal's confirmation.
- 02
prep / preparationSabotage & Disguise - Action
- Break into the LSPA office, hack its database, plant charges on the ship records and collect the National Coast Guard outfits.
- Tip
- In Sabotage & Disguise hack LSPA, plant charges and take Coast Guard outfits before detonation.
- Risk / failure condition
- Detonating before taking outfits removes the safe ship approach.
- How to recover the run
- Do not detonate; return to the locker area, take the set and leave before triggering charges.
- 03
prep / preparationSkylift and tasks - Action
- Secure the heavy-lift Skylift and the mandatory bolt cutters, flare and transport needed to reach the ship.
- Tip
- Confirm the Skylift, bolt cutters, flares and boat as the complete finale package.
- Risk / failure condition
- A missing item blocks boarding, containers or objective extraction.
- How to recover the run
- Return to the board, finish the missing Task or Planning Work and recheck the set.
- 04
finaleApproach the ship - Action
- In the finale, reach Elysian Island, take the prepared transport, approach the La'oub Princess and climb aboard via the anchor chain.
- Tip
- Use the prepared boat and board the La'oub Princess along the planned route.
- Risk / failure condition
- Splitting boats or a loud entry exposes players to the full deck.
- How to recover the run
- Move off the hull, regroup and retry boarding at one point.
- 05
finaleBridge - Action
- Reach the bridge silently or loud, eliminate and search the captain, then use the terminal to reveal the possible containers.
- Tip
- Reach the bridge along one side, remove the captain and always search him before the terminal.
- Risk / failure condition
- Using the terminal without the item from the captain does not reveal the correct containers.
- How to recover the run
- Return to the captain's last position, search it and retry the console.
- 06
finaleSearch the containers - Action
- Open the marked containers with bolt cutters while fighting the crew and helicopters until the target vehicle is found.
- Tip
- Open only marked containers with bolt cutters while cover holds routes between them.
- Risk / failure condition
- Random cutting wastes time and lets security trap the operator.
- How to recover the run
- Stop at the wrong container, return to the terminal-marked set and continue in order.
- 07
finaleSignal flare - Action
- Attach the flare to the correct container and wait for the Skylift pilot to lift it from the deck.
- Tip
- Attach the flare only to the target-car container and clear the pickup area.
- Risk / failure condition
- A wrong flare or players beneath the Skylift prevents a safe lift.
- How to recover the run
- Confirm the car marker, correct the flare and regroup outside the container footprint.
- 08
finaleEscort the Skylift - Action
- Take a Sea Sparrow or other armed support and destroy the helicopters attacking the Skylift on the flight into the city.
- Tip
- Air support stays with the Skylift and removes one attacking helicopter at a time.
- Risk / failure condition
- Chasing a distant target leaves the slow Skylift unprotected.
- How to recover the run
- Return above the load, remove the nearest helicopter and match the pilot's pace.
- 09
finaleOpen it ashore - Action
- After the container is dropped in a parking structure, open it, enter the target car and clear the exit route.
- Tip
- After the drop wait for the container to settle before opening it and entering the car.
- Risk / failure condition
- Interacting while the Skylift is moving exposes the player and vehicle to damage.
- How to recover the run
- Step away, wait for the lift to finish and retry from the clear side.
- 10
finaleDelivery - Action
- Drive the car from the parking structure to the Salvage Yard while avoiding unnecessary damage.
- Tip
- Deliver the car to the Salvage Yard without stopping to fight pursuers.
- Risk / failure condition
- Unnecessary fights increase objective damage before handoff.
- How to recover the run
- Divert to a wider road, keep moving and let cover remove only roadblocks.
Common mistakes
Missing boarding item
- Consequence
- One missing item blocks entry, container opening, marking or pickup.
- Correction
- Return to the robbery board and finish the missing Task; do not launch the ship with an incomplete list.
Containers opened without bridge intel
- Consequence
- Random opening extends deck combat and delays the slow Skylift phase.
- Correction
- Stop searching, return to revealed markers and divide only the indicated containers among the crew.
Unescorted Skylift
- Consequence
- The Skylift is too slow to outrun escorts and losing it ends target-car transport.
- Correction
- Bring escort close to the Skylift, remove the nearest helicopter before the next and descend to the garage only after the drop.
Pre-launch checklist
Bolt cutters, flare and the bridge and container operators are assigned.
The Sea Sparrow launches with the Skylift and escorts it through the drop.
Confirm disguise, bolt cutters, flare, transport and the ready Skylift before the finale.
Search the captain and use the bridge terminal before the bolt-cutters operator starts.
The Sea Sparrow launches with the container and prioritizes every helicopter on its route.
03
Expanded informational overview
Guide scopeThis section organizes the complete cycle: requirements, phases, figures and dependencies. The detailed operation flow is in the walkthrough above.
The weekly board provides three robberies in total. Each has its own value and preparation scope, but all share the same rotation limit.
04
How the full cycle works
This section complements the walkthrough with full-cycle dependencies: unlock, preparations, finale, settlement and the next available attempt.
Unlock
Requirement: Salvage Yard.
Contract selection
Availability may depend on a board, phone call or activity rotation.
Preparation
The model includes required stages before the final settlement.
Completion
Team choice affects pace, host payout and each partner's payout.
Replay or rotation
A shared limit of three Salvage Yard robberies per rotation; reset every 7 days.
05
What affects the result
Payout and time cover the complete cycle, not only its final job.
The displayed amount is the verified host payout. The reported partner payout is disclosed separately and is not converted into a fictional average or team result.
Setup fees and commissions are deducted before the net result.
Fast/typical/beginner: 43 min / 58 min / 1 hr 28 min.
Main strengths
- Lower entry cost than major heists.
- Flexible supported team size.
Constraints
- Some contracts depend on board rotation.
- A partner may receive a different payout from the host.
06
Solo / Duo / Trio / Quatro variants
Every supported team size shows its host, partner and team model; unofficial figures carry a clear source label, while lower-confidence payouts stay outside calculators.
Solo: full pace control and no crew wait.
- Host / owner
- $335,000
- Team net
- $335,000
- Weekly reset
- 7 dayslimit: 3 / reset • shared pool
Duo: the host payout is verified, while the reported partner payout is shown as unofficial and excluded from team calculations.
- Host / owner
- $335,000
- Reported partner payout
- $50,000No official participant table is published — aligned community reports indicate a flat $50,000 for the finale regardless of target-car value; completing every Elite Challenge can add an optional $50,000, up to $100,000 total (confidence C). The value is excluded from team calculations.
- Team net
- Not calculated — the reported partner payout does not feed the model
- Weekly reset
- 7 dayslimit: 3 / reset • shared pool
Trio: the host payout is verified, while the reported partner payout is shown as unofficial and excluded from team calculations.
- Host / owner
- $335,000
- Reported partner payout
- $50,000No official participant table is published — aligned community reports indicate a flat $50,000 for the finale regardless of target-car value; completing every Elite Challenge can add an optional $50,000, up to $100,000 total (confidence C). The value is excluded from team calculations.
- Team net
- Not calculated — the reported partner payout does not feed the model
- Weekly reset
- 7 dayslimit: 3 / reset • shared pool
Quatro: the host payout is verified, while the reported partner payout is shown as unofficial and excluded from team calculations.
- Host / owner
- $335,000
- Reported partner payout
- $50,000No official participant table is published — aligned community reports indicate a flat $50,000 for the finale regardless of target-car value; completing every Elite Challenge can add an optional $50,000, up to $100,000 total (confidence C). The value is excluded from team calculations.
- Team net
- Not calculated — the reported partner payout does not feed the model
- Weekly reset
- 7 dayslimit: 3 / reset • shared pool
07
Complete figures by team
Typical values for the selected cycle; every cell also contains a min–max range.
| Team | Cooldown | Team gross | Costs + fees | Host / owner | Each partner | Team net | Host / owner $/h | Team $/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOLO | 7 daysWeekly reset • limit: 3 / reset • shared pool | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | $0min: $0 · typical: $0 · max: $0 | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | — | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | — | — |
| DUO | 7 daysWeekly reset • limit: 3 / reset • shared pool | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | $0min: $0 · typical: $0 · max: $0 | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | $50,000 | Not calculated — the reported partner payout does not feed the model | — | — |
| TRIO | 7 daysWeekly reset • limit: 3 / reset • shared pool | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | $0min: $0 · typical: $0 · max: $0 | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | $50,000 | Not calculated — the reported partner payout does not feed the model | — | — |
| QUATRO | 7 daysWeekly reset • limit: 3 / reset • shared pool | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | $0min: $0 · typical: $0 · max: $0 | $335,000min: $250,000 · typical: $335,000 · max: $420,000 | $50,000 | Not calculated — the reported partner payout does not feed the model | — | — |
08
Key facts
VIDEO
Video walkthrough
Verified video · EN
GTA Online Chop Shop - The Cargo Ship Robbery [All Bonus Challenges]
Scope-out, planning, tasks, finale and challenges; no commentary.
- Channel
- GTA Series Videos
- Published
- 13 Dec 2023
- Checked
- 29 Aug 2026