space is big, if freelancer would be real, chances to find another ship at all would be next to nill.
Take a look at the Atlantic war, merceantmen were hunted by longrange bombers and submarines, as well as some warships.
If they were hit, they sunk most often, and in almost every case were not able to reach their destination and deliver their cargo.
A single bomb or torpedo was enough, and these merceant had no weapons to defent themselves at all.
But they still sailed, and most of them got trough,
sea was big.
