What this research will prove is how amazing seafarers of the day were given the limited technology they had. Some humans, when given a problem, sure have the ability to figure out unique solutions that end up helping all of us.
Profits could be so enormous, taking a cargo that was cheap in one place to where it was super valuable and expensive, that sailors were willing to take what we today would consider wild risks.
I don’t know about the BC Med, but I’ve read estimates that during the first centuries of trans-Atlantic voyages, ten percent of ships were lost at sea.
Yet they kept going. The rewards were enormous. Even for migrants, getting to the “new world” could be a huge life changer. Peasants could rise to land owners, nearly impossible in Old Europe. Minor nobles could live like kings.