Tar initially operated small harbour ship perhaps (9)
I believe the answer is:
transport
'ship perhaps' is the definition.
(ship is a kind of transport)
'tar initially operated small harbour' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'operated' becomes 'ran' ('run' can be a synonym of 'operate').
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'harbour' becomes 'port' (I've seen this before**).
The initial letter of 'tar' is 't'.
't'+'ran'+'s'+'port'='TRANSPORT'
(Other definitions for transport that I've seen before include "Move something or somebody around" , "Delight; e.g. bus" , "Parts torn in fit of strong emotion" , "Coach, possibly" , "Overwhelm with joy" .)