Barry, I am not knowledgeable enough about the shanties to have my own theory- my ideas are from Hugill and others who have studied the subject. I am not sure which 'Hilo' interpretation you are questioning since I gave three from Hugill.
Quotes from Hugill, "Shanties from the Seven Seas," (p. 183 and following):
"But in some of these Hilo shanties it was not a port, either in Hawaii or Peru, to which they were referring. Sometimes the word was a substitute for a 'do', a 'jamboree', or even a 'dance'. Furthermore, since these shanties were not composed...on paper... quite possibly many of these 'hilos' are nothing more than 'high-low', as Miss Colcord has it..." Hugill then gives "Hilo, Johnny Brown" and the other two shanties of Negro origin from the Caribbean, mentioned in my previous post (the only ports mentioned in these three are Mobile and, indirectly, the Barbados). Hugill mentions "We'll Ranzo Ray" in this respect, as given by Colcord.

Puta- prostitute (Diccionario de la Lengua Española, Royal Spanish Academy).
Many imitations of Spanish words ('dago phrases') and obscene and derogatory phrases from shanties (such as the Saltpetre chantey) were changed or removed (Hugill, pp. 376-377 and elsewhere) and what is published is a poor imitation of the song as sung by men on the sailing vessels.
Many of the shanties in print have been re-written and sanitized.

What you say about cooperation among shipmates, regardless of origin, is mostly true, at least on ships with mixed crews, but in the navies of England and U. S., foreigners were usually regarded disparagingly. There are many contemporary writings by mariners containing derogatory remarks about other peoples.