If shipwrecks were more common in the past, did people shipping things have a higher expectation that their stuff wouldn’t reach its destination?

Question

Like, did they just shrug and be like “oh well, I guess we aren’t getting our pineapples this year” or was it a rare and problematic occurence?

In: Other

Answer 1

Yes, both insurance, the stock market and the concept of corporations were invented as ways to be able to collectively carry the loss of ships, because it wasn’t feasible to do if everyone involved was completely bankrupted every time they lost a ship.