Scale 1 : 37, length 104 cm, width 44 cm, height 91 cm,
More photos: of entire ship,
of details. Click on the photos for high
The fluyt ZEEHAEN and the expedition of Abel Tasman in 1642
Abel Tasman (1603 - 1659) was the first European to discover New
He was born in the village of Lutjegast, in today's province of
Groningen in the Netherlands. In 1633 Tasman signed up with the
Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC)
and left the Netherlands for Batavia. In August 1642 Tasman
received instructions to find the mysterious and supposedly rich
Southern Continent, which had been eluding and tempting explorers
Two ships were prepared for the voyage: the ZEEHAEN, a fluyt of
about 200 tons, and the HEEMSKERCK, the flagship, a small warship of
about 120 tons and carrying 60 men. The celebrated pilot,
hydrographer and surveyor, Frans Jacobszoon Visscher accompanied
On 13th December 1642, the coast of New Zealand came into view, and
Tasman noted in his journal "groot hooch verheven landt" (a large
land, uplifted high). Tasman named this land "Staten Landt", which
refers to the "Land of the (Dutch) States-General."
The area of New Zealand which Tasman sighted was in the vicinity of
the coast between modern Hokitika and Okarito, on the west coast of
the South Island.
There is more information on his journey on this website about
New Zeeland in History.
Little is known about the fluyt ZEEHAEN except for her tonnage of
200 tons. According to the books on shipbuilding by
Nicolas Witsen a fluyt of 200 t had dimensions of 100 x 22
x 11 feet. The ship was built in 1639 at the Amsterdam VOC
shipyard. The ZEEHAEN left Holland in 1640 for Cambodia. In 1642 she
and the HEEMSKERCK were put under the command of Abel Tasman.
The fluyt ZEEHAEN model, photos, description and dimensions
The ship model was built to plans of Ab Hoving and Cor Emke who
made a reconstruction of the fluyt (see: Ab Hoving, Cor
Emke, The ships of Abel Tasman, published by Uitgeverij Verloren, 2000,
ISBN 9789065500878). They were helped in their reconstruction by the
Maritime Museums of Amsterdam and Rotterdam and by Peter Sigmond, head
of the department of Dutch History at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
This model of the fluyt ZEEHAEN is a very beautiful and detailed masterpiece
by an experienced model builder. The ship model is 1 : 37 scale.
Length is 104 cm, width 44 cm, height 91 cm.
The ship can be taken out of the stand, i.e. for transport.