Originally posted by Alt-F4:

This may only be a partial solution to the problem, however, since the types of things you will want to teleport (I'm looking at ore and refined metals) don't teleport through portals. Unless I am completely misunderstanding the label they have on them. Which means portals would be useful for things like foraging or initial travel to a location, but carrying ore or the like back is a manual task. I'm also not entirely sure if they will come under attack in single player, either.

Enemies not in render range don't have AI, so they can't attack anything. But portals serve another VERY important function other than letting you transport goods and that's giving you a lifeline. If you're not on your home continent and you die, how are you gonna get your body back; build a new boat? Maybe the first time it happens but from that point on you'll be setting sail with portal materials in your inventory so when you make landfall you can build your lifeline. It's a lot less stressful when dying just means the skill penalty and a short jog to get your corpse instead of having to launch a whole mission to recover your stuff.