What is jetsam?

Jetsam is the cargo thrown overboard by the crew of a ship to lighten its weight when the ship is in distress. Normally, jetsam is used as a part of the phrase ‘flotsam and jetsam’. Flotsam is any cargo or wreckage that remains afloat after a ship has sunk. The combined term is also used to describe discarded cargo or equipment found washed ashore. It is also used to describe odds and ends which have been thrown away, or unemployed and vagrant people with no fixed address.