It was in 1731 off Havana that Captain Robert Jenkins, master of the brig Rebecca, lost part of his ear in a contretemps with a Spanish officer who had boarded his ship in a search for contraband. Rebecca was a British ship, Jenkins a British Citizen and from this trade dispute ensued a full-scale war with Spain. According to Richard Woodman's History of the British Merchant Navy Vol. 1, Captain Jenkins appeared unencumbered by his loss and subsequently made several successful voyages to the east, accompanied by his pickled ear. I was reminded of this early conjunction of sea trade and hard diplomacy when reading aboutthe recent seizure of the Rickmers' container ship Maersk Tigris by maritime units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Doubtless diplomats put in considerable hours of overtime as they sought to have the crew and ship released. But it is also worth recalling that thingsarea lot more complicated these days, with a German ship, chartered to a Danish company, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands (a US protectorate) and crewed by the sort of multinational manning cocktail typically found aboard so many ships, whether they are operated under open registries, or any other.
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