Page 92 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

In , the founder of the Cape Colony, Van Riebeeck, complained about the poor way his ship was loaded: ‘sijnde op 't hoogste beclaeghlijck dat de dienaers ofte sjouwers van d'E Comp in 't vaderlant soo weijnich na de wel gevende ordre van d'E Heeren bewinthebbers passen op 't affladen ende stuwen van de scheepen, waerdoor Comps goet ende sooveel sielen in prijckel worden gestelt, want soo haest comt qualijck een degelijcke wint in de seijlen, off 't schip valt soodanigh op sijde, dat het schijnt te willen omvallen’ \[it is highly lamentable that the servants and dock-workers of the honourable Company in the fatherland don’t follow the well given instructions of the directors on the loading of the ships, so that the Companies goods and so many souls are placed in jeopardy for as soon as the sails catch some considerable wind, the ships heel over so much that it seems to capsisze.\] (Bosman & Thom , -). The fine tuning: loading the right combinations of cargo items and ballast products within the right time and at the right place; was often critical and inextricably bound up with the organi- sation of trade and shipping. To enforce the VOC’s trading position, military operations were often necessary; this resulted in another set of specific requirements for the fleet and the VOC staff. Sufficient qualified personnel needed to be available for both trade and military opera- tions. The above general aspects all had ramifications for the total logistical organisation of the VOC in Asia. They determined the choice and the employment of the various vessel types. In the following section, the logistical development is outlined. This process will be studied by following the changes that took place during the development from the first Dutch voyages. The development of the organisation of shipping is described in a chronological sequence start- ing with the Voorcompagnieën and the early years of the VOC and ending with an analysis of the complex fully operational intra-Asian network. The logistical organisation is discussed in dis- crete facets such as ship’s equipment, crew, maintenance, cargo and ballast. The early stage of Dutch shipping in Asia Ships’ equipment At the commencement of the Dutch-Asiatic shipping, the ships that sailed back and forth were, to a large extent, self-contained. This means that, for a trip to Asia and back to Europe, food supplies and spare materials needed to be taken and stored on board. Many spares were car- ried in order to keep the ship in good shape during the intercontinental voyage followed by a short stay in Asian waters and then the homeward bound voyage (all in a planned period of two years). Vessels needed to have a minimum of two sets of sails including some extra sail- cloth (NA .., VOC , fol. v), eight anchor cables of  fathoms (more then  metres), eight anchors, an extensive selection of spare ropes, some barrels of pitch, tar and other maintenance materials as well as timber for repairs to the ship. There are not many instances recorded where a lack of spare materials is a problem. In general, the issue was the massive volume that these materials took on board. Luckily the crew of these first voyages were still relatively small compared to the later period, when space on board became a serious issue. In the many ships’ journals of the period, the most commonly reported problem was the number of anchors. Operating in still unfamiliar waters, the ships often lost anchors due to a lack of good anchor rope or if they had to cut the ropes and were not able to later salvage them. In , the Middelburg arrived in Asia with only one anchor left. It had lost nine anchors on its voyage from Europe. The management in Asia complained about the poor quality of the an- chors (Colenbrander , p. ).  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters