Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 9:27

"And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon." — 1 Kings 9:27 (ASV)

Shipmen - See the note on 1 Kings 5:6. Regarding the Phoenicians' familiarity with this particular sea, it is likely they had trading settlements there, as they had in the Persian Gulf, even at this early period. The commerce with Ophir was probably an established trade, previously in the hands of either the Phoenicians or the Egyptians, when Solomon determined to take a share in it. The Egyptians had navigated the other arm of the Red Sea, and perhaps its lower parts, from a much more ancient period.