Page 49 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

The main routes in Asia The eastern route: the Spice Islands The Eastern Route stretched directly east from Batavia to the Spice Islands. The three important destinations on this route were the island groups of Banda, Ambon and what at that time was called Molucca. In this period, only Ternate, Tidore and a few neighbouring islands were re- ferred to by this name by this as opposed to later definitions of Molucca, or the Moluccan Islands. From the centrally located Ambon, it was usually possible, though in some periods rather difficult, to reach both other destinations. The route from Batavia to Ambon, however, was the most monsoon-affected of all the VOC shipping lanes. C t s a E Arabia Afrika Region Arabian Sea Region Bay of Bengal Region Sumatra Region Strait of Malacca Region Java Sea Region Route Spice Islands Region Route Far East Bengal Taiwan Persia h i n a a India t s a o C l e d a m o b a r r A n y o n h t a u B o M S i a n i S fC B e S e h n C a e g a a S l e a l a b a r Sri Lanka S t r a i t oM f I o a l a c c a Malaysia Sumatra n S a B v a d a J a S a a i d n O e a e c e a a n Map .: The Eastern route to the Spice Islands. The route was connected with the route to the Far East along the Philippines (the purple pine). It was only possible to sail from Batavia to Ambon from October to March. This applies not only to the larger Dutch cargo vessels, but also to smaller ships, whether of European or Asian construction. Ships leaving Batavia in March or even at the end of February often failed to make the voyage and had to return to their port of departure. From April to October, ships returned to Batavia with their cargo of nutmeg, mace and cloves. All types of vessels were used by the VOC on this route. Normally, the voyage was not dangerous for the larger ships with regards to weather conditions or attacks from enemies of the Company. The only naviga- tional risks were the very steep shores of the islands and the reefs with nowhere suitable to anchor in adverse winds, or currents to prevent stranding. Because the skippers expected little danger on this easy route between Java and the east of the Archipelago, accidents often hap- pened due to inattention. The ship Hollandia (ID:) whose fate is described in detail in a report in the VOC archives is a case in point. This large retourschip sailed to the Spice Islands in  with an accompanying smaller vessel and was wrecked on a reef near Lombok. The loss  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters Vietnam Thailand (Siam) Cambodia China Kalimantan Java Spice Islands Sulawesi Lesser Sunda Island Philippines Japan