Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - Losses of shipping and crews out of Penarth . . .

Simple human error, poor seamanship, inaccurate charts and storms were compounded by the unscrupulous amongst the ship-owners who would deliberately overload ships in order to maximise the profitability of each voyage.

Then there were the numerous insurance scams, whereby ship owners would deliberately over-insure their ships, sending them to sea in such a poor state of repair that they were hardly seaworthy. If the ships sank, the insurance paid out as much as several times their value. Mariners faced imprisonment if they refused to sail on such vessels after signing on. With the eyewitnesses drowned and the ship lying on the seabed, obtaining reliable evidence was, on most occasions, virtually impossible. Of the survivors of such events there was of course a reluctance to attend Court since they would have undoubtedly been blacklisted by the shipowners and their agents. Such vessels were known as “coffin ships” and merchant sailors “lived in fear of fear of crewing them.”

A newspaper report [002] of 21st October 1871 stated “At the Police court on Friday, George Andrews, aged 17, seaman of the brigatine 'Mary Anning' of Plymouth, was brought up accused of failing to proceed to sea in the above vessel . . . . . The prisoner had signed articles in the ship as a Cook and Steward, but instead of proceeding on board on the stipulated day, was found in the company of prostitutes. Prisoner expressed sorrow and said that he had overslept himself. Sent to gaol for fourteen days' hard labour.”

	The Western Mail reported on the detention of a steamship in February 1887 for alledged overloading. The Western Daily Press [023] of Bristol on 22nd July 1884 reported:

“Charge Against a Shipowner. At Penarth police court yesterday, Robert Ropner, shipowner, West Hartlepool, was summoned by the Board of Trade for violation of the load line clauses of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1876.” “Evidence was given by Mr Sloggett, Board of Trade Surveyor, that the ship 'Larden', a large barque of 1,600 tons, had the load line unequal on both sides, and 3¼ inches above the line prescribed by the Act.