Duyfken historic voyage

Duyfken historic voyage

JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

JAKARTA (JP): A fisherman named Sardjudin (photo above) rows
his boat in front of a replica of a 17th century United East
India Company (VOC) ship called the Duyfken at Sunda Kelapa
harbor, North Jakarta.

The ship arrived in the harbor on Sunday, and was welcomed by
a lavish ceremony attended by officials from the city
administration as well as from the Dutch embassy.

Sunda Kelapa harbor is the first on the list of places to be
visited by the 20-meter, Fremantle-built vessel on its voyage
from Sydney to the Netherlands.

After Jakarta, the ship will cross the Indian Ocean to Sri
Lanka, Mauritius and South Africa, before sailing north to the
Netherlands.

The journey is aimed at retracing voyages from the days of the
VOC's spice trade more than 300 years ago.

The Duyfken is a replica of a 17th century Dutch ship of the
same name. The original Duyfken, owned by the VOC and stationed
in the East Indies, made a voyage of exploration looking for
"east and south lands" which took it on the first historically
recorded voyage to Australia.

The present Duyfken has sailors from the Netherlands and every
Australian state. The ship will arrive in the Netherlands around
April or May 2002.