DISASTER IN THE INDIAN OCEAN: THE LOST COMPANY FLEET OF 1662

In 1602, six rival Netherlands companies trading in Asia merged to form a single company, the so-called Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (United East India Company). This company, generally known by its Dutch acronym 'VOC', was backed by the Dutch government, managed by a board of seventeen directors known as the Heeren XVII, and supplied with capital by private investors among whom the directors themselves featured prominently. The Company was destined to dominate the trade between Europe and Asia for nearly two centuries, from 1602 until the 1780s, when in the aftermath of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch war (1780-84) it was eclipsed by the English East India Company. In fact, during the entire period from 1602 until 1780 over 50 per cent of all European ships that rounded the Cape on their way to Asia belonged to the Dutch company.