In the days of original pirates, how much would a merchant ship charge another ship for protection?

Question

Ok, i have asked this question before, but I think I phrased the question a little off. Back in the days of original pirates, how much might a merchant ship charge another ship to guard them from one destination to another. For example would they take a percentage of the cargo, or was it a set fee based on length of travel or a combination of both? If it was a set fee, what might that fee have been? 1000 dollars? 10000 dollars? Please be specific as possible, I am part of a reenactment group and I am trying to gain as much info as possible and I can't find it online. Thanks!

Answer 1

I read your question yesterday and perhaps no one answered the question adequately. There was no set price, it was based on a percentage of the value of the cargo. It also depended on what else the privateer was doing at that time and how connected they were to the monarch. If they owed the king a favor, for example, they might do it just to keep in his good graces. This was not, however, a very common practice. Usually for protection ships would either go under the escort of a military vessel or they would go in a convoy, which sounds good, but didn't work too well in a real wind, storm or ocean.

Answer 2

Generally speaking, merchant vessels protected themselves and sailed in convoys.

There was a ship called the 'armed merchant'. Merchant sailors were sometimes heavily armed with cannon.

I am not aware at all of privateers sailing in protection of a merchant fleet, or of any merchant vessel paying someone else to protect them.

Sometimes a large merchant fleet would have their naval forces along in escort, but generally the merchants protected themselves.