Maritime Law in Halacha

The Torah contains many laws about ships

Jettisoning

1. If a ship is caught in a storm- it may be necessary to throw cargo into the water to stabilize the boat.
2. The Gemara says that in such a case- everyone throws off a percentage of cargo equaling their percentage of weight
   1. for example- if one person's luggage is ten percent of the total cargo by weight aboard the ship, this person must throw off ten percent of the luggage thrown off
   2. After the fact, even if the luggage was not thrown off according to this method, the passengers compensate one another for luggage they should not have had to throw
3. The Gemara also says that if someone brings a donkey aboard a small ferry boat and the donkey goes crazy, all the passengers are permitted to throw the donkey in the river to save the other passengers
   1. The Gemara says that it is permitted to throw the donkey in the river since the donkey is a rodef to the passengers
4. These halachot present a seeming contradiction
5. One Halacha says that everyone has to throw luggage, the other halacha says only the most dangerous cargo has to be thrown off.