船に乗っていた

was on a ship

→ 船
phrase Rare #43,499
was on a ship Describes someone being aboard a ship in the past. The English verb may change depending on the subject and context.
JA: 彼は船に乗っていた。
EN: He was on a ship.

つまり、スパーホークは以前、海賊に襲われた船に乗っていた。

In other words, Sparhawk was once aboard a ship that had been attacked by pirates.

一週間船に乗っていたの。

I was on the ship for a week.

かなりの乗客が船に乗っていた。

There were quite a lot of passengers on the ship.

ウィリアムソンから借りた船に乗っていた男たちは、みんな私を見つめていた。

All the men aboard the ship I’d borrowed from Williamson were staring at me.