Page 41 - Dutch Asiatic Shipping Volume 1

ships of 160 ft (ca 1,150 tons) : shipsof145ft(ca850tons): shipsofl30ft(ca600tons): ships of 110 ft (ca 350 tons): ships of 100 ft (ca 250 tons) yachts of 80 to 88 ft:
fl 135,000 to fl 140,000,
rigging fl 7,717 and anchors fl 3,200; fl118,000tofl 120,000,
rigging fl 5,542 and anchors fl 2,500; fl 82,000 tofl 85,000,
rigging fl 4,297 and anchors fl 1,900; fl 17,000 to fl 18,000,
rigging not stated, anchors fl 1,300; fl 15,000 to fl 16,000,
anchors fl 1,100;
fl 10,000 tofl 11,000.
At the end of the eighteenth century costs had risen even higher: around 1790 a fully rigged East Indiaman of the first rate was valued as high as fl 184,000.24 Calculations of the total value of ships delivered by the Company yards can only be global estimates. Using the figures presented in table 2 of chapter 3 on the numbers of ships built, it seems reasonable to assume this value to have amounted to at least one hundred million guilders.2 5
On return home from Asia ships were taken, after unloading, to the shipyard front. There they were de-rigged and cleaned and inspected. The experts - the equipagemeester, the master shipwright and usually one of the directors of the equipage - then made a report on the repairwork required. In the case of large and radical repairs the Heren Zeventien s approval wassometimes sought. Forexample in 1718 the ships DONAU (6411), BENTVELT (6394) and AMAZONE (6410) arrived at Texel badly damaged and examination by several directors with the master shipwrights of the Amsterdam, Hoorn and Enkhuizen chambers proved that repair costs would amount to fl 36,000, fl 24,000 and fl 30,000 respectively. The DONAU had better be scrapped, read the advice laid before the meeting of the Heren Zeventien, the other two ships were still worth repairing.2 6
Of the establishments available to the chambers for this building and repair work,the one in Amsterdam was of course the largest. Since 1661 this chamber owned a large site on Oostenburg, an extension of the city of around 1644 which in fact consisted of three islands surrounded by canals. Nearest the city the Company's imposing Zeemagazijn was built, 215 metres long and 23 metres deep. This building served as warehouse for goods from Asia, as a storeroom for ships' furniture like nails, ropes and cables, while for a long time it included a slaughterhouse and a sail-loft in the attic. On the second island stood a number of workshops for riggers, blockmakers, boatbuilders etc., and for the construc- tion of gun mountings and anchor windlasses. On the third island, next to open water, was the shipyard proper with three slipways, a forge, in the eighteenth century with 18 fires, a steam kiln for bending timbers, and other necessary workshops. Next to this site
24 See hereafter, p. 51.
25 In table 2 ships are classified into four categories; the value of the ships had been assessed from
the data mentioned in the text:
17 th 53x100,000= 5,300,000 century 42 x 60,000 = 2,520,000
199 x 32,000 = 6,368,000 412x 16,000= 6,592,000
20,780,000
26 ARA, VOC 250, res. A'dam, 20.1.1719.
18 th century
219x140,000 = 30,660,000 283x120,000 = 33,960,000 175 x 80,000=14,000,000 78x 16,000= 1,248,000
79,868,000