From: Richard Aiken

> Ah, yes.
>
> But it's a Class D port, wherein the "berths" are likely nothing more than marked-off stretches of
> concrete/tarmac (e.g. there are no physical impediments to leaving, such as a lockable ship-sized iris
> hatches).

Nothing about 'class D' means that the area cannot have entry restrictions, such as walls or armed guards. That's mostly a function of law level, which has been left unspecified by the OP.

> So a merely bureaucratic hurdle (without something physically dangerous with which to back it up . . . like
> mercenaries carrying anti-vehicle weaponry . . .) isn't very likely to hold them on the ground. 

If they aren't *on* the ship, anti-personnel weapons will do the job just fine.