At the end of the 18th century, several new regulations were also imposed regarding naval activity. These included instructing officers to refrain from excessive shouting when giving sailing commands, directing the captains of each ship in the navy not to conduct business transactions on their own behalf, and ordering surgeons to fumigate their ships several times a day in order to prevent the outbreak of any disease. The most notable regulation imposed directed naval officers to learn German. At the time, most Austrian naval officers were Italian or Spanish, and Italian remained the main language of the officer corps until 1848. This policy change however reflected Austria's desire to re-order its multi-ethnic Empire more towards the German states of the Holy Roman Empire.