A lot can go wrong onboard a ship. This is presumably why superstitions and omens of ill fortune are still taken seriously by crews the world over.
Officers Sveinung Zahl, Knut Fredrik Slake and Carl Inge Snyen, all of Norwegian owner Ostensjo Rederi, told the company's website that ancient beliefs can be hard to shed.
They cite a recent example of a new company vessel being named in the pouring rain.
Guests are watching from under their umbrellas, but when invited onboard, everyone leaves these on the quay. But why?
"For a sailor, this is a matter of course," captain Snyen said. "Bringing an umbrella onboard is equal to asking for rough weather."
Horses are another no-no. Unlikely as this seems, if the guests had arrived at the ceremony on horseback, they would probably not have been admitted onboard.
Our equine friends were traditionally associated with hearses, the officers explained. And no one likes a hearse. Apart from undertakers.
In general, most things associated with death are banned onboard.
But why on earth are rucksacks barred?
Well, this relates to there use in climbing mountains — the underwater kind of which no seafarer wants to encounter.
Whistling is also frowned upon.
When sailboats were out in bad weather, the masts emitted a whistling sound, linking this to rough weather ever since.
"Ancient superstition is hard to get rid of, and there are still some unwritten rules being taught to all sailors," the trio said. "However, in general, it is our impression that life onboard today is much less under the spell of superstition than in the old days."
