Hi guys, I'm trying to imagine what typically happens when a merchant ship arrives at a medieval port wanting to sell its cargo (after which it presumably buys new cargo and returns from whence it came). Obviously there's a lot of variation possible, but I'm keen to understand the most typical scenarios, and had the following questions:

The ship might be owned by a company or individual? Or either?

The ship would likely run the same route many times? (I imagine merchant ships didn't just work like travelling pedlars, stopping here and there trying to hawk their goods).

Would it need to get permission to dock? (In advance? From a harbour master? How would they communicate?).

Once docked, can it just go ahead and unload its cargo? Or this cargo would need to be checked (by some kind of port authority?) and paid tax on first?

What paperwork would be involved?

Would the cargo likely have a buyer already, who took the goods direct to a warehouse? Or might a merchant ship have to find a buyer.

I guess the ship would dock for one night at least (paying a docking fee), allowing the sailors to run riot on land for a night... but the ship owner would want to get back on the sea as soon as possible (to avoid paying the docking fee again).

Would they have to pay tax on goods they are shipping out of the harbour?

Would there likely be a third party / port authority who handled all loading / unloading? (Or the ships crew would take care of that?)

If I had to specify a time period, I'm keen to know more about I'd say Naples in the early Renaissance (so end of medieval era), but concrete info about how any port functioned during any time period from Roman onwards would interest me.

Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer or share links.