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.