A safe, fully equipped port was so indispensable to all Venetian possessions that the overlords referred to the port at Chandax as "the soul of the town and of the entire island". It rapidly developed into the finest naval station in the entire Eastern Mediterranean, capable of serving as a trading outpost

Merchant vessels sailed from Chandax to Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and Armenia, as well as to Rhodes, Chios and other Venetian-held islands in the Aegean. Assorted commodities such as silk, spices and grain were stored in the harbour warehouses, awaiting transportation East or West.

Venetian trade relied on a well-organised system of convoys, consisting of merchant vessels escorted by men-of-war. The precise course and dates on which ships moored and weighed anchor were determined months in advance of any voyage.