IN THE darkness of night, a sailing ship carrying 276 people nears an island in the Mediterranean. The crew and passengers are exhausted from being tossed to and fro in the stormy waters for 14 days. Upon seeing a bay at daybreak, they try to beach the vessel. But the prow gets stuck beyond movement, and the waves break the stern to pieces. All on board abandon ship and manage to reach the shores of Malta by swimming or by hanging on to planks or other objects. Cold and battered, they haul themselves out of the raging surf. Among the passengers is the Christian apostle Paul. He is being transported to Rome for trial.​—Acts 27:27-44.

What can be said of the ship that was wrecked at Malta with Paul on board? It was a grain ship, “a boat from Alexandria that was sailing for Italy.” (Acts 27:6, footnote) The grain fleets were privately owned by Greeks, Phoenicians, and Syrians, who commanded and equipped them. However, the ships were hired by the State. “As in the collection of taxes,” says historian William M. Ramsay, “the government found it easier to give out the work to contract than to organize for itself the enormous machinery in men and equipment needed for that great service.”

The vessel on which Paul experienced shipwreck at Malta would also have been considered large. How big could such ships be?

Literary sources led one scholar to say: “The smallest capacity [ship] found generally useful by the ancients was about 70 to 80 tons. A very popular size, at least in the Hellenistic age, was 130 tons. A 250-tonner, although a common sight, was definitely larger than average. In Roman times the ships used in the imperial transport service were still greater, the desirable capacity being 340 tons. The largest ships afloat ran to 1300 tons, possibly a bit larger.” According to a description penned in the second century C.E., the Alexandrian grain carrier Isis was over 180 feet [55 m] long, was about 45 feet [14 m] wide, had a hold some 44 feet [13 m] deep, and could probably carry over a thousand tons of grain and perhaps a few hundred passengers.

Paul was evidently aware of the dangers of out-of-season sea travel. He even advised against sailing in late September or early October, saying: “Men, I perceive that navigation is going to be with damage and great loss not only of the cargo and the boat but also of our souls.” (Acts 27:9, 10) However, the army officer in charge ignored these words, and this resulted in the shipwreck at Malta.