Shipping routes that cut across political and topographical boundaries were always more important than the slow-moving caravan trails, and the overland trade routes always carried much less trade than the sea roads: ships, after all, could carry vastly larger cargoes – often amounting to several hundred tons – and travel much more quickly than donkeys or camels. They could also sail around wars, instability and ambushes.
Why ships better than overland caravans
More volume
faster
avoid tariffs
avoid ambushes and political instability
but had pirates and storms
