De intra-Aziatische vaart: Schepen, ‘de Aziatische zeeman’ en ondergang van de VOC?

Intra-Asiatic trade: ships, 'the Asian sailor' and the demise of the Dutch East India Company? Matthias van Rossum Active involvement in the intra-Asiatic trade was one of the main pillars of the Dutch East India Company (voc). The intra-Asiatic trade of the voc has, therefore, often been assigned a key role in historical arguments on the rise, functioning and demise of the company. This article presents a reconstruction of the size of the voc intra-Asiatic fleet in tonnage and personnel. It shows that the intra-Asiatic trade of the voc was important throughout the 17th and 18th century. Furthermore, the article argues that the availability of material (ships and freight capacity) and labour in Asia were not likely to have been causes for the demise of the voc. Through the extensive and fruitful use of the Asian maritime labour market, the voc could balance shortages on the European labour market.