Ships, Carriers, and the Movement of Goods

7.1 Owning a Vessel, Taking a Share, or Hiring Freight

The House may carry goods in three principal ways: own a vessel, own part of one, or hire space from another owner.

Each choice changes our control, capital requirement, and risk.

Owning a vessel: Full ownership provides the greatest control over employment, maintenance, master, schedule, and cargo.

It also creates an entirely new business.

A ship requires capital even when idle. It requires crew, repairs, provisions, port charges, equipment, insurance, administration, and continual supervision.

Do not buy a ship merely because the House ships many goods or because ownership brings prestige.

Ask whether controlling the vessel produces enough commercial advantage to justify the capital and management required.

Capacity during scarcity: Ownership becomes more valuable when freight is difficult to obtain or when reliable transportation gives the House an advantage over merchants waiting for space.

But capacity that is valuable during one season may become costly during another.

Taking a share: Merchants may divide ownership of a vessel into fractional interests.

This allows participation in freight earnings and shipping capacity without placing the whole value of the ship upon one House.

Translator note: Genoese and other Mediterranean vessels were commonly divided into fractional ownership interests. Such shares could be expressed in carati, allowing merchants and shipowners to divide capital and maritime risk among several participants.

Do not confuse several shares with diversification: Owning interests in three vessels that all sail together on the same route may still expose the House to one storm, war, or capture.

Diversify by event, not merely by hull.

Hiring freight: Paying freight (nolo) avoids tying large sums permanently into ships. It allows the House to select vessels according to each cargo and expand or reduce shipping as trade changes.

The cost is less control.

We depend upon another owner, another master, and their decisions concerning sailing, cargo, maintenance, and route.

Whole vessel or part cargo: A large shipment may justify hiring most or all of a ship. Smaller quantities may travel with goods belonging to many merchants.

Sharing space reduces capital commitment but may create problems of stowage, delay, and incompatible cargo.

Compare total economics: Do not compare ship ownership with freight charges alone. Compare capital employed, maintenance, idle time, administration, risk, flexibility, expected freight income, and the commercial value of control.

The House should own ships because ownership improves the business, not because merchants enjoy calling themselves shipowners.

7.2 Selecting Masters, Ships, and Carriers

A cargo entrusted to a poor master aboard a poor vessel has already been placed in danger before leaving the harbor.

The master: Judge the master (patrone or capitano) by experience, judgment, discipline, honesty, and familiarity with the route.

Ask how he behaved during bad weather, political trouble, damaged cargo, and disputed instructions.

A man who has sailed many years is not necessarily a good master if those years merely repeated careless habits.

Record: Maintain notes on masters and carriers used by the House. Record delays, damaged goods, document problems, deviations, claims, and how each man communicated during difficulty.

Memory becomes generous after several profitable voyages.

Private interests: Determine whether the master carries goods for his own account and whether those interests could influence stowage, destination, or delay.

Private trade need not be forbidden in every case, but it should not compete improperly with cargo entrusted to him.

The vessel: Consider age, construction, repairs, maintenance, size, draft, speed, equipment, crew, and fitness for the intended voyage.

Seaworthiness is relative to the work required. A vessel suitable for a short summer coastal passage may be a poor choice for a long winter voyage.

Cargo suitability: A dry, valuable cargo requires different conditions from grain, wine, timber, oil, or livestock.

Ask what the ship carried previously and what will travel beside our goods.

Oil leaking onto cloth can ruin merchandise without sinking the vessel.

Size and speed: Large ships may reduce freight per unit and offer advantages in defense, but they may require deeper ports or take longer to assemble cargo. Smaller vessels may depart quickly and reach ports inaccessible to larger ships.

Choose according to the trade.

Crew: A capable master cannot compensate indefinitely for an inadequate or undisciplined crew.

Defense and convoy: On dangerous routes, armed protection or convoy may be worth delay and additional cost. Compare the expense with the value and vulnerability of the cargo.

Owners: Know who owns the vessel and whether they are financially capable of meeting obligations arising from the voyage.

Inland carriers: The same principles apply after goods leave the quay. Wagons, pack animals, river craft, and warehouse carriers should be selected for reliability, capacity, custody, and knowledge of the route.

The sea is not the only place where merchandise disappears.

7.3 Freight Contracts, Charter Parties, and Division of Responsibility

A freight agreement should answer the questions that become expensive when left unanswered.

Freight terms: State what is being carried, in what quantity, aboard which vessel, from where to where, how freight is calculated, and when it is payable.

Freight may depend upon weight, measure, package, space, or an agreed sum.

Charter party: Where a substantial part or all of a vessel is hired, the agreement should specify the obligations of shipowner, master, and merchant.

Translator note: The English term charter party derives from the medieval Latin charta partita, a “divided document” whose matching parts authenticated the agreement. Italian merchants used comparable chartering arrangements to define the employment of vessels and the responsibilities of the parties.

Identify the vessel: If the agreement depends upon a particular ship, specify whether substitution is permitted and under what conditions.

A merchant choosing one vessel for speed or quality should not discover that his goods were quietly placed aboard another.

Loading and sailing: State when the vessel is expected to be ready, how long the merchant has to provide cargo, and what happens if either side causes delay.

Custom may provide periods for loading and unloading and charges for exceeding them.

Translator note: Mediterranean practice used terms such as stallie for permitted lay days and controstallie for additional time subject to extra payment, concepts comparable to later laytime and demurrage.

Route and deviation: Know whether the ship may call at intermediate ports, wait for a convoy, change route, or carry additional cargo.

Such actions may be reasonable, but they affect time and risk.

Division of responsibility: Determine who supplies packing, loading labor, tackle, storage, unloading, and other services.

Likewise distinguish the owner’s obligation to provide a fit vessel from the merchant’s obligation to prepare goods properly.

The shipowner should not answer for oil packed in defective barrels merely because the barrels leaked at sea.

Delay and cancellation: Provide for failure to arrive, excessive delay, embargo, closure of port, war, or inability to load.

Do not attempt to write every possible misfortune into one contract, but address the events capable of changing the commercial purpose of the voyage.

Read customary forms carefully: Familiar language is not harmless merely because everyone uses it.

Understand what the customary clauses actually assign to us before accepting them.

7.4 Loading, Stowage, Bills of Lading, and Delivery

A voyage can be ruined at the quay before the vessel moves.

Prepare early: Goods should be packed, marked, counted, weighed where appropriate, and accompanied by proper instructions before loading begins.

Do not make the ship wait because our warehouse was disorderly.

Marks and numbers: Packages should carry identifying marks sufficient to distinguish ownership, lot, and destination.

Good marks reduce confusion when several merchants carry similar goods.

Count every handoff: Record quantities leaving the warehouse, reaching the quay, loaded aboard, unloaded at destination, and received by the final custodian.

When a shortage appears, the House should be able to identify between which two points it occurred.

Condition: Record damaged packages before shipment. Otherwise old damage may later be blamed upon the carrier, or genuine maritime damage may be dismissed as preexisting.

Stowage: Cargo should be placed according to weight, fragility, moisture, leakage, value, accessibility, and compatibility.

Dunnage and proper separation can prevent water, movement, or neighboring cargo from destroying goods.

Supervise important loading: For valuable shipments, employ a trusted man to observe loading rather than depending entirely upon later explanations.

Bill of lading: Obtain the bill of lading (polizza di carico) or equivalent shipping record stating the goods received, marks, quantity, vessel, destination, and conditions of carriage.

Translator note: The polizza di carico served as important evidence that goods had been received aboard for carriage. Forms and legal effects varied, but such documents helped establish quantity, shipment, destination, and rights surrounding delivery.

Copies: Send necessary documents by more than one route when loss of a single letter could delay delivery or payment.

Advice to destination: Notify the receiving factor before expected arrival. Give marks, quantities, vessel, master, expected date, documents, and instructions concerning customs, storage, inspection, and sale.

Delivery: Goods should be released only to the proper person or authorized representative.

Inspect on arrival: Count promptly and record condition before evidence disappears. Damage discovered weeks later becomes difficult to assign among ship, warehouse, carrier, and buyer.

The voyage is not complete when the ship enters port. It is complete when the goods are properly delivered and accounted for.

7.5 Delays, Diversions, Piracy, Capture, Shipwreck, and General Average

Sea trade requires preparation for events with no merchant controls.

Delay: Bad weather, contrary winds, repairs, quarantine, port congestion, convoy, or government order may delay a vessel.

For time-sensitive goods, delay can create a commercial loss even when nothing is physically damaged.

Consider this before choosing a route and ship.

Diversion: A vessel may need to enter another port because of weather, danger, damage, or political conditions.

Foreign factors should know whether they have authority to redirect, store, sell, or reship cargo when correspondence with Genoa would take too long.

Piracy and corsairs: Understand the activity of pirates, privateers, and corsairs (corsari) along the intended route.

Nationality, flag, ownership, cargo origin, passes, and political relationships may affect the risk of detention or capture.

Papers should be complete because an ambiguous cargo can become suspicious cargo when encountered by an armed vessel.

Capture: If a ship or cargo is taken, determine immediately whether the seizure is a lawful prize, piracy, temporary detention, or a dispute that can be resolved through documents or diplomatic intervention.

Inform insurers and correspondents quickly.

Jettison: During severe danger, cargo may be deliberately sacrificed to save the vessel and remaining property.

Such loss may be shared among the interests preserved rather than falling entirely upon the owner of the goods thrown overboard.

This principle is the general average (avaria comune or avaria grossa).

Translator note: Under the long-established maritime principle of general average, extraordinary sacrifices or expenses deliberately incurred for the common safety of ship and cargo could be apportioned among the interests saved. This differed from ordinary particular loss borne by the affected property.

Sea protest: After storm, forced diversion, jettison, or other serious casualty, the master may make a formal sea protest documenting the circumstances.

Obtain copies when our cargo is affected.

Translator note: A master’s protesto di mare could provide important contemporary evidence of storms, damage, deviation, jettison, and other events later relevant to cargo claims and insurance disputes.

Shipwreck: When a vessel is lost, act quickly to determine what can be salvaged. Damaged goods may retain considerable value if recovered and sold promptly.

Do not abandon salvage merely because the original transaction failed.

Insurance: Preserve invoices, bills of lading, policies, correspondence, surveys, protests, and evidence of loss. Insurance claims depend upon proof.

Quarantine and embargo: A vessel may arrive safely yet remain unable to unload. Goods whose value depends upon timing may suffer heavily from political or health restrictions.

Overdue ships: Do not treat absence of news as proof of loss. Seek reports from intermediate ports, arriving captains, correspondents, insurers, and other merchants.

Prepare contingencies while facts remain uncertain.

Commercial recovery: If goods will arrive too late for the intended buyer or market, look immediately for alternatives. Another city, customer, or use may preserve part of the expected return.

Review every serious casualty: After the loss is settled, ask whether the cause was unavoidable or whether vessel choice, route, season, packing, concentration, or poor instructions made the damage worse.

A misfortune should purchase knowledge if it cannot return money.

My sons’ transportation remains our concern until merchandise becomes safely delivered property and eventually money.

Choose between ownership, shares, and hired freight according to control, capital, and risk. Select masters for judgment rather than reputation alone. Put responsibilities into writing. Supervise loading, preserve documents, and count goods at every important handoff.

Expect delay, capture, storm, and diversion before they occur, so that agents know what authority they possess when letters cannot arrive in time.

A merchant does not make money because his goods have sailed.

He makes money because they arrive.