That sounds like the port was damaged by Portuguese ships earlier and not "retaken" by the British. Raided ports (via ship) seem to actually change ownership even after the fleet left. In your case the port was probably still registered as Portuguese.
This can lead to stupid DOW's after a faction is destroyed but some port somewhere is still "owned" by that faction. Big bug that one.
It can also cause troubles for the AI if they don't have armies nearby anyway (e.g. on islands). It it not capable of recruiting a militia unit, retake the port and then disband it again as any human player would.
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