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by thriftwy 1093 days ago
I don't understand what prevented insurers from not insuring these ships? Were they obliged to insure everything thrown at them?
1 comments

> A courageous member of the British parliament named Samuel Plimsoll tried for years to get legislation passed to improve safety and maintenance on ships, and to regulate the overloading of cargo encouraged by greedy owners to maximize profits at the expense of safety. He was stymied at every turn because many ship owners were MPs themselves and loathed passing new laws that would be to their disadvantage; they were making fortunes in the shipping business.

Looks like another example where the idea that private interests would ever be adequate for regulating safety is provably false.

I'm still not sure what was in for Lloyd et all.