In the first years of the 1590s, the plan to find a northern route to Asia gathered steam in the Netherlands, particularly due to the initiative of the merchant Balthasar de Moucheron. His initiative was supported and he got advice from, among others, Jan Huygen van Linschoten, who had lived in Asia for years, and cartographers and sailors including Petrus Plancius and Willem Barentsz. The Dutch government also became enthousiastic and bought out De Moucheron, in order to take on the financing and organisation itself. For the first expedition, the States of Zeeland equipped one ship; the city of Amsterdam two.
Progress
The ships left on 5 June 1594 from the Texel roads, and first sailed to the island of Kildin, on the north coast of Russia. Here, the fleet split in two: the Amsterdam ships, led by Barentsz, expected that the route with the least ice would be found north of Nova Zembla, based on the advice of cartographer Petrus Plancius. The other two ships, led by Nay, tried their luck south of the island. The latter had more success: they found the Vagiach Strait (to the south of the eponymous island), as well as the Kara Sea which lay beyond it, relatively free of ice, and reconnoitred the sea to the northeast before returning to the strait, convinced they had found a viable route to Asia. Once back on the other side of the strait, they encountered the two ships under Barentsz, which had not been able to get past Novaya Zemlya and had turned around. By the 16th of September, the entire fleet was back in the Netherlands.
Effects
The successful passage of the Vaigach Strait convinced the people involved in the expeditions that a viable route had been found. The next year, a much larger expedition would therefore be sent out, with the intention to continue on to Asia.
