Entrance in side of vessel I start to climb over (7)

I believe the answer is:

portico

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'entrance' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'side of vessel i start to climb over' is the wordplay.
'side of vessel' becomes 'port' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'start to' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'climb over' is 'co'.
'port'+'i'+'co'='PORTICO'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for portico that I've seen before include "Covered entrance with columns" , "small architectural feature" , "Grand porch" , "Elaborate porch" , "Covered walkway" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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