Medieval sources mention Ahtopol as a lively merchant port where many Byzantine, Italian and other ships arrived.

On August 7, a fleet of Persian rafts ferrying troops across the Bosphorus were surrounded and destroyed by Byzantine ships.

Given a largely shared nautical nomenclature, and the centuries-long interaction between the two cultures, Byzantine and Arab ships shared many similarities.

Little is known on particular Byzantine ships during the period.

In 931 King Hugh of Italy, along with some Byzantine ships, attacked Fraxinetum.

He then arranged for her transportation to Durrës, where she boarded a Byzantine ship heading for Constantinople and returned safely to her father.

When a Byzantine fleet arrived, the Arabs raised the siege and tried to sail back to Africa, but were hindered by the Byzantine ships.

Ashot and his wife boarded one of the Byzantine ships that were beleaguering the town and fled to Constantinople.

Byzantine ships would sail together to give aid to each other, and they began to carry armed men for further protection.

However, the Normans intercepted the Byzantine ships off Bari and scattered them.