[10] Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Timothy Monger writing that this serves as "almost a sequel to 2018's 13 Rivers... that plays like an amalgam of his career's disparate styles" and ended his review stating that Thompson "also remains a top-notch songsmith and vocalist makes him one of the rare triple-threats who consistently delivers".

[13] Online retailer Bandcamp chose this as Album of the Day and Jon Dale wrote that Thompson is "excellent at detailing the everyday bleakness of life quietly lived, and Ship To Shore is full of moments where his songs' protagonists are left noiselessly hanging by a thread".

[1] Jim Wirth of Mojo rated the release 4 out of 5 stars stating that "it is a record about defeat, despair and humiliation delivered with an unsettling avuncular twinkle, and a lingering sense that the moments when his spring is wound at its tightest might also be the ones where Thompson feels the most alive".

[2] A musicOMH, Chris White scored this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "a remarkably fresh and vital sounding record, with Thompson's rich baritone voice undimmed by the years and a clutch of excellent songs, mostly characterised by his familiar themes of vulnerability, disappointment and loss".

[18] Jon M. Gilbterson of The Shepherd Express wrote that this work "cocks an eyebrow at anyone who thinks the English singer, songwriter, and guitarist would rest solely on his reputation" and that it "as a whole demonstrates that the grind hasn't ground down his artistry".