Page 97 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

.., VOC , fol. , ), so this ballast was shipped around the full voyage. Wherever possible, the ballast was made up of useful or commercial goods. Some metals from Europe like  lead and iron could be sold at a reasonable profit in Asia. Remarkable was the large quantity of tintinago, obtained with the capture of Caraque St. Catharina (ID:) in , that was first shipped to the Netherlands and then again shipped back to Asia as ballast because it could be sold for a better price there (NA .., VOC , -). Ballast goods were sometimes kept aboard because it was too much trouble to have it removed from underneath the grenier – the  For larger ships, there was always a trade-off between the limitations of the draught on de- parture from the Netherlands ports and the need to have sufficient heavy cargo to maintain the ship’s stability on route. On occasion, returning ships were loaded too deeply for the water- ways of their own chamber and had to sail to the deeper harbour of Zeeland which then cre- ated problems with the division of the cargo and the expenses for the equipage (NA .., VOC , fol. ). Logistics of the shipping within Asia State of maintenance of the fleet If a ship stayed in Asia for a prolonged period, it usually required a lot of maintenance. Keep- ing the fleet afloat was a serious logistical problem for the VOC and eventually, each time a vessel was to be serviced, the question to be decided was whether it was still an economical proposition to invest in repairs. In fact, the VOC was wearing out their ships on purpose through a system in which ships were gradually employed on less dangerous routes to trans- port less valuable goods. The ship Der Goes (ID:) was such a case. In , the ship got stuck on the Coast of Coromandel because, although the planking of the ship had been maintained, the stern and the keel of the vessel were too weak to transport valuable cargoes. It was then decided to use the Der Goes for local shipping along the Coromandel Coast (NA .., VOC , fol. ). It is amazing how long the VOC kept its vessels operational even after the techni- cal state of a ship was considered hopeless. For instance, the yacht Ackersloot (ID:), on arrival in Galle in  after  years of service, was considered to be completely unseaworthy. The frames and other hull reinforcements were rotten. In the bow and on the portside, the ship had only survived on the strength of the pine outer layer of planking. The yacht was repaired as well as possible in Galle (NA .., VOC, , fol. -v). The repairs kept the vessel afloat and it actually made a trip to Persia and then, after returning to Galle, took a cargo of cinnamon to Batavia. Following this voyage, it served for routine work in the Strait of Malacca. In , it was decided that it was not worthwhile to spend any more money on repairs. Never- theless, the Ackersloot made another trip, this time to Jambi to fetch a cargo of pepper. Finally in , five years after the ship would normally have been considered to be unseaworthy, it was finally laid up. A temporary insufficient cargo capacity was often the reason for using unsuitable or even unseaworthy vessels. Some of the vessels that were used at the end of their active service were literally floating on their cargo. In , the ship s'Landts Mauritius (ID:) leaked so severely that it could only make it back to Batavia by loading  beams into the hold to help it to stay afloat (Coolhaas , p.). If a vessel was not deemed worthy of further repair, the VOC would take it apart to recycle the useable parts. This seemed to be an unpopular job with the sailors. In Banda in , it was decided to demolish the ship Wapen van Amsterdam (ID:) that had first come out to Asia in , and the plan was to use the timber to repair and rein- cargo floor – that was constructed in the hold of the ship (Colenbrander , p. ) less ballast stones were taken but so were usable bricks that could be employed for VOC con- structions in Asia. As can be witnessed at the remains of the many VOC sites in Asia, millions of bricks must have found their way to Asia as ballast stones. Already in , . bricks (gebacken steen) were bought by the VOC to send with the fleet (NA .., VOC , fol. ). The shipping and logistics in operation  . Worth-