Drake`s Golden Hinde weighed in at 300T displacement with a crew complement of 80 men.
Today a ultra large crude carrier weighs in at 440,000DWT and has a crew of 20-30. The biggest container carrier is 18000TEU with a 165,000DWT and a crew of 13.
We all know that given the economies of scale offered by wide bodied aircraft the maginificent Concorde was a still birth, but kept alive more for political reasons than anything else.
We all know why the Titanic and Costa Concordia went down.
In a world driven by commercial exigencies there can be no room for romanticism. I am afraid the future will be dictated by bankers and financiers, as it always has been and will always be.