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

Honestly, I think the real question is, did insurance companies start selling ‘pineapple coverage’ as a premium add-on?

Answer 2

Honestly, I think it was more like ‘we’ve lost the pineapples, but the cargo holds are full of pine-apples-related insurance claims. That’s a new line of business we can get into’

Answer 3

Absolutely. Hence the phrase ‘when my ship comes in’ – which doesn’t refer to a passage on a ship or waiting for travel somewhere.

It means the ship in which you have a venture – either solo or as part of a group. If the ship completes its trade voyage you may well be a rich man, or you could be ruined if it never returns at all.

Answer 4

Short answer, yes. Imported goods were never a given. People were delighted if they did arrive but they didn’t count on it, and most imported goods were luxury goods for the wealthy anyways, since due to the volatility of the trade, they came with a significant markup. That was in part an attempt to counter the losses from sunk ships, but even then many shipwrecks led to the bankruptcy of merchants and ship owners.

Answer 5

It could literally change a country’s culture. People forget, but mayonnaise used to be a huge staple of Mexican cuisine. In the 1800s and early 1900s England was a major manufacturer of mayonnaise, the Titanitic was carrying a massive shipment destined for Mexico after stopping in New York, the Titanic was to to stop in Mexico to unload, but if course it never made it and the shortage of available mayonnaise caused it to go out of style. It’s still remembered every year, they call it “Sinko de Mayo”

Answer 6

Part of the reason that spices were so expensive was to cover the cost of ships lost at sea.

Huge numbers of sailors went to sea and never returned.

The earliest biggest corporations in the world were all shipping companies, in large part so that the losses could be absorbed more easily. (The other part was monopoly power, often politically enforced.)