Pulling the ship’s weight safely ashore

The main function of the cargo ship is to deliver goods from point A to point B, in the fastest and safest way possible, in order to provide us everything we need for our daily lives (cloths, food, equipment, etc.).
My research project focuses on career development among seafarers, the people who man those cargo ships, and it involved occasional sailing with merchant navy ships where I accompanied the crew on board for a few weeks at a time. During one of those voyages, the ship was about to dock in one of the ports located along the Mediterranean Sea. The rope thrown to the port employee is one of the few points of contact seafarers have with the shore, since they spend most of their time on-board the ship. This contact does not last long, however, because soon enough they would sail to their next destination.