That much copper must have been a huge loss in the day. It would be interesting to know what the terms of sale provided as to who owned the risk when the goods were in transit. Wonder if there was any kind of exchange where participants could lay off shipping losses on a group? Leonidas of Knossos?
There were underwriters on both ends, but the captain and crew took the real risks. As long as they got where they were going and got the money, they were okay. Otherwise, the ship went down, they'd probably be dead.