Crossword Genius

Put me on ship in a Sicilian port (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

messina

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'a sicilian port' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'put me on ship in' is the wordplay.
'put' becomes 'ina' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'ina' after 'me' is 'meina'.
'meina' enclosing 'ss' is 'MESSINA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for messina that I've seen before include "Sicilian port" , "City in Sicily" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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