If you love being on the water, chances are you wouldn’t dream of being without boat insurance. You simply couldn’t bear to be without a boat, right? Of course, nobody likes having to pay the premiums, but if you ever have an unfortunate accident, it’s better to have the coverage. Of course, most of us only pay a paltry sum for our insurance compared to what large ship owners pay. Can you imagine the premiums for large ocean going vessels? On the other hand, can you imagine the potential liability and loss if they didn’t have coverage? Imagine having to cover the deductible on one of the three most expensive shipping accidents in history:

1. The Titanic. Believe it or not, as famous as this shipwreck is, it is not the most expensive shipwreck of all time, though it did hold that title for 77 years. When the Captain chose to sail in the icy waters, believing his ship to be indestructible, he took a seven million dollar ship to Davy Jones’ Locker. What’s worse, it was the Titanic’s first trip to sea. These days, that same 7 million is worth over $150,000,000. And that says nothing about the loss of life, which we all know was substantial. So, what disastrous shipwrecks could possibly top turning the world’s most luxurious oceangoing vessel (of its time) into a glorified ice cube tray? Keep reading.

1. The Exxon Valdez. Apparently, Prince William Sound is one bitch of a place to have an oil spill. The Exxon Valdez’ leak was nowhere close to history’s biggest oil slick, but the remote location made it inaccessible to most cleanup equipment. Only helicopters and boats could approach the ship, which rammed into the reef while the Captain was away from the helm. So what was the bill? Exxon Valdez had to shell out a cool two and a half billion dollars. Just in case, you want to count zeroes, that’s 2,500,000,000.

1. Prestige Oil Spill. What do you do when you’re the Captain of an oil tanker carrying 77,000 tons of fuel oil and one of your tanks burst in a storm? That’s right, you call the nearest port for emergency help. Apparently when that port is in Spain, however, they tell you adios. And then when France and Portugal give you the same message (OK, technically the messages were adeus and au revoir), each country telling you to stay the hell out of their coastal waters, you know you’re really screwed. So, what is there to do other than shit your pants? Eventually, you break in half and dump 20 million gallons of oil into the ocean, for total damages of twelve billion dollars.

Boat accidents can be devastating. That’s why there’s boat insurance. It says something that the worst boat disaster is surpassed in damages only by a space shuttle explosion and a nuclear meltdown.