As goddess of the sea, Tin Hau is venerated for the protection she offers to fishermen and sailors. Boats have long had a love-hate relationship with the gentler sex. Women are either the source of bad luck or they bring seafarers the best of fortune.
There is a time-honoured tradition of women launching ships by breaking a bottle of champagne against the prow. Ladies aren't expected to throw the bottle themselves or even swing it against the ship - they are ladies after all - but merely to pull a rope that swings the bottle against the hull.
Bubbly wasn't always the substance used for this purpose. The Babylonians sacrificed oxen, the Ottomans slaughtered sheep and the Vikings purportedly made human offerings when it was necessary to appease the gods of the virulent north seas. In later centuries, the Vikings settled for libations of blood whereas the ancient Greeks sensibly sipped amphorae of wine while dousing their new boats with water.
Until the end of the 17th century, the British Royal Navy launched its ships by tossing a chalice made of precious metal and full of wine over the side. King William III sensibly decided that the 'standing cup' was too extravagant given the navy's rapid imperial expansion and decreed that a bottle of wine be used instead. As a symbol of luxury and celebration, champagne became the wine of choice and has been used to launch Royal Navy ships for the past 300 years.
While christening ships with alcohol is the norm in modern times, the custom wasn't immediately embraced by all commercial lines. The White Star Line chose to avoid bottle christenings for its ships, giving traction to the legend that its Titanic was doomed from the start.
Stories of bottle-launching calamities abound. After a series of mishaps at sea, P&O's Aurora was said to be jinxed because the bottle failed to break the first time at its 2000 launch.