From the rules, ports are to be set up as follows: In the 3-4 player game you start with placing a port on the hexside at the end of a long (5 piece) row. You then place a port every other space around the map. Each port is placed oriented towards the hexside of the longest row it is next to. Currently, in variable setup, the ports often are oriented to the shorter row which leads to some odd looking setups.
I don't think anyone on the development team ever played the game before with all the mistakes in this version!
