The Nassau with VOC chief merchant Van den Broecke on board had been instructed to explore the Red Sea and the waters around the Arabian Peninsula. He was the first Dutchman to land in Aden and sailed further to Mokka (Yemen) into the Red Sea. The center for coffee trade.

Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time. To be allowed to trade, a letter of recommendation from the sultan was needed which Van den Broecke did not have. The Turkish governor of Mokka received Van den Broecke in a friendly manner, but he refused the Dutch to trade in his city. Van den Broecke continued his journey.

A year later Van de Broecke succeeded in establishing a VOC trading post in Mokka. The Nassau fared less. Upon returning (9/19/16) to the roadstead at Bantam in West Java, the Nassau ran aground.

Type:  yacht
Built:  Yard in Amsterdam, 1613
Owner: DEIC chamber Amsterdam

Tonnage: 300, 150 last

Complement: 90
Master: Jan Pietersz.

Senior merchant: Pieter van den Broecke

• DAS entry