Page 113 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

ballast that would contribute to the profit rather then being an expense. The choice of ballast played an important role in the efficient loading of ships, ensuing that the cargo capacity was most advantageously utilised by valuable products. Three criteria: optimum weight; optimum volume and maximum profit drove the intra-Asian network. For the fleet that was sent to Europe, an additional consideration was the proportional division of cargo amongst the var- ious ships sailing representing the separate VOC Chambers. It was of utmost importance that the Asian organisation provided enough cargo and ballast in Batavia for the retourvloot. It can be said that the VOC succeeded in synchronising the cargo capacity of the vessels sent with the supply of cargo within certain region. It was rare that ships sailed with an underutilised cargo capacity; on the contrary, ships were sometimes overloaded. The VOC even used less suited vessels like men-of-war to serve on the trading network at the expense of their military capacity (NA .., Admiraliteit Amsterdam , --). Success of the VOC: Attuning the organisation and the various networks In order to assess the efficiency of the VOC, we have to study the link between the Europe-Asia shipping network, and the intra-Asian network including the main logistical aspects. It is ap- parent that the intra-Asian network provided the European-Asian network with the return cargo for the European market. Less obvious, but of equal importance, was the contribution from Europe of new vessels, equipment, supplies and new staff for the organisation in Asia. By taking the various aspects of the shipping and trade into account conclusions can be drawn as to whether the VOC was successful in overcoming bottlenecks and taking advantage of oppor- tunities. The retourschepen attached to the European-Asian network were examined. Most vessels ar- rived in Batavia from Europe between June and October. It would take some time to unload the supplies and other goods from the vessels. The new non-nautical staff that arrived with the fleet needed time to recover from their intercontinental journey. Most soldiers were needed at the Spice Islands. As shipping from Batavia to the Spice Islands was only possible from No- vember, soldiers had time to recover in the hospital in Batavia; only healthy soldiers were sent to the harsh conditions of the Spice Islands. Although the VOC tried to finance the return cargo through intra-Asian trade, currency and bullion were still required and had to be provided by the Netherlands. A small part of this money was used to pay staff, but the majority was re- quired to buy silk and textile in China, Surat and the Bay of Bengal. Late arrival of this money had consequences for the progress of trade; missed opportunities could cause delays of a year (Coolhaas , p. ; Coolhaas , p. ). Retourschepen that were not available to participate in intra-Asian shipping and were intended for a direct return voyage to Europe, could commence reloading, assuming of course the avail- ability of the return cargo in Batavia. The unloading and the loading of the Dutch vessels was complicated by the fact that they required a minimum amount of ballast in order to maintain stability even while vessels were stationary. This was sometimes difficult to achieve and could lead to a loss of available cargo space. If ballast and cargo was incorrectly loaded, stability could be seriously compromised; some ships did have to abort their journeys and return to Batavia. Sometimes, there was no other option and ‘paying ballast’ from the Netherlands (or visa versa) remained on the ship. For efficient loading of the ships sufficient ballast products needed to be available at the roadstead. The organisation of the VOC needed to anticipate requirements by having both sufficient ballast and cargo available in Batavia. The departure date of the retourschepen was dictated by the VOC in the Netherlands and based on the desire for the fleet to return to Europe before or at the start of the European autumn. This met with nautical and commercial requirements: that is, before the autumn storms and before the northern winter ice would prevent European distribution to the buyers of the VOC products. This timing however, created problems for the VOC in Asia. To arrive at this time, the fleet had to leave Asia around the turn of the year. This meant that loading had to Knitting all the threads together: the logistics of the network 