Beardless in a southern port (6)
I believe the answer is:
shaven
'beardless' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'southern port' is the wordplay.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'port' becomes 'haven' (both can mean a place of safety).
's'+'haven'='SHAVEN'
'in a' is the link.
(Other definitions for shaven that I've seen before include "Without a beard" , "With hair removed (N, not D)" , "lacking coverage" , "without locks" , "Hairless after work with razor" .)