Page 29 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

3 The Dutch expansion in Asia up to  The framework for this study is the establishment of Dutch intra-Asian trade and shipping. To understand the development of Dutch shipping in Asia to its peak in the second half of the th century, it is necessary to outline the initial development of Dutch-Asiatic trade (Gaastra ). The Dutch expansion, and the associated growth of the VOC’s Asian shipping networks to , is segmented into two periods: the establishment of the organisation up to , and the expansion and consolidation of the VOC network in Asia between  and . Within these periods various stages can be recognised. In the first stage of the establishment of the organisation – until around  – Dutch ship- ping was based on a ‘fleet-organisation’. A fleet equipped and crewed for a voyage of up to two or three years would sail via the Cape of Good Hope to the Asiatic market. This market encom- passed the region from the East coast of Africa to the shores of China and Japan. In Asia, the ships had to sail to several places to obtain the desired commodities before they could return to Europe. In order to purchase these items, other Asian products were often needed for bartering purposes, in addition to the silver and cargo brought from Europe. It soon became clear that this system of ‘returning fleets’ was not efficient for both commer- cial and technical maritime reasons. Establishing profitable trade relationships required a per- manent presence at the point of trade so that trade goods could be collected and stored over a long period of time, placing the merchants in a better position to negotiate prices and quality. The ultimate goal of the VOC was to gain a monopoly over particular products, which was only possible if a stronghold was established. Apart from commercial and political considera- tions, logistical factors played an important role in the changes that took place in the second stage of the development of the organisation after  to . The VOC was confronted more frequently with maintenance problems caused by the extensive periods that ships operated in Asia before the fleets could return to Europe. Relief for the crew on these long voyages was an additional issue of concern. Often ships had to be laid up temporarily or even abandoned dur- ing their stay in Asia because of a lack of crew and/or the inability to repair these ships in the absence of the necessary facilities. Obtaining cargo and then planning how it would be divided between the ships of the returning fleet became a tour de force for the admiral who was in charge of the operations in Asia. It became clear to the VOC that there was a need for a rendezvous: a central place where ships could be repaired; where spare materials and skilled craftsmen could be available; where refreshments and supplies could be exchanged, since some ships had sur- pluses that could be used by others; and where ships could bring cargo for collection. On top of this, any efficient organisation was hindered by the discontinuity of management between suc- cessive admirals. In this second stage of the first period, the system gradually changed to a more permanent presence of VOC ships and personnel in Asiatic waters. A permanent management structure was established under a governor-general. In , a VOC rendezvous centre was established at Batavia on the island of Java near the Sunda Strait. In the early s, there was an interest- ing period of a few years during which the VOC hoped to concentrate on the transport of goods to Europe and leave most of intra-Asian trade to the traditional and private European traders who would take the merchandise to Batavia. Trading posts established in previous periods were closed to save on operational costs. This policy did not seem to be successful and 