Reconstructing ships so that they have a double hull can protect them from serious damage in the roughly 20 percent of shipping accidents that unavoidably result from severe weather conditions. Avoidable human error, however, causes about 80 percent of shipping accidents. It would ttherefore be far more cost-effective to reduce damage to ships by retraining sailors than by reconstructing ships.
The statement 'The least expensive course of action in the long term is the one that minimizes the total cost of damage from accidents' most strengthens the argument.