[Simple is maybe an overstatement, given the effort involved in curating a list of willing traders - crewing those ships - managing the books involved. But simpler than going at this sideways, that much at least is true.]

Expectations that could be delivered on, were our arrival windows wide enough to account for some broad navigation should something need attending to or from. I can think of no better way to legitimize the deployment of ships and crew en masse without causing immediate trouble.

I suppose exactly how legitimate the cargo or manifest need be is technically debatable, though I can't imagine there's anyone in the Inquisition willing to pay the harbor tax on a shipment of empty barrels and crates.