Built in 1724 by the Chamber of Zeeland at their Middelburg wharf in the Dutch Republic, the vessel was named after the nearby village of Aagtekerke. Designed for long voyages, the Aagtekerke embodied the ambition of the VOC – the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or the United East India Company – designed to help dominate global trade routes during the Age of Sail.
But tragedy befell the ship in early 1726. It disappeared somewhere in the Indian Ocean, never to be seen again. What happened to the Aagtekerke? Did it succumb to severe storms? Did human error steer the ship onto razor-sharp reefs? Was the ship attacked by pirates and looted?
This time-trip back to the golden age of Dutch maritime exploration will attempt to shed light on the mystery of the so-called Aagtekerke treasure.
The Aagtekerke
The Aagtekerke was a Dutch East Indiaman (Credit: mikroman6 via Getty Images)
With a length of forty-four metres and a load capacity of around 850 tonnes, this East Indiaman – the name for ships that made runs between Europe and the East Indies between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries – was built of oak and pine in 1724. Equipped with thirty-six guns, it was crewed by a complement of over two hundred sailors.
Thus the Aagtekerke treasure ship was designed to connect Europe with the lucrative spice markets and wealthy merchants of Asia. It was well-suited for long voyages and heavy cargo and set off on its maiden voyage on 27 May 1725, departing from Fort Rammekens in Zeeland – in present day Netherlands – under Captain Jan Witboon.
After a gruelling seven months at sea, it reached the Cape of Good Hope in the Dutch Cape Colony – in modern-day South Africa – on 3 January 1726, where it may have taken on a large consignment of ivory as well as to be repaired and resupplied.
On board were sailors, officers, and possibly a small detachment of soldiers to protect both the ship and its cargo. In addition to standard provisions and trade goods, historical records suggest the Aagtekerke carried a substantial shipment of gold and silver coins worth 200,000 guilders and intended to help finance trade in Asia and bring back exotic merchandise for European markets.
Most accounts of the Aagtekerke’s story report that the ship remained in the Cape for just over three weeks and left for its onward journey on 27 January 1726. That’s when the Aagtekerke mystery took a baffling turn…
The Lost Ship Aagtekerke
The Aagtekerke was destined for Batavia, but it never arrived (Credit: mikroman6 via Getty Images)
As solidly built as these Indiaman ships were, crossing vast oceans in the eighteenth century was anything but straightforward. Despite its sturdy hull and well-trained officers, the ship would have had to endure unpredictable storms, hidden reefs, and the constant threat of piracy.
The route from the Cape to the final destination, Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Jakarta in Indonesia), was taken by many trading vessels of the era, however it was fraught with difficulty.
However, after setting sail for Batavia, the Aagtekerke never arrived. So what happened to the Aagtekerke treasure ship? It’s clear that the ship met a tragic end, but no evidence of the vessel has ever been found.
Yet one persistent legend suggests the Aagtekerke may have been wrecked along or near the Australian coast. Indeed, it could be that the Aagtekerke’s fate was inextricably tied to that of another – similarly doomed – ship.
The Story of the Zeewijk
The Houtman Abrolhos islands (Credit: Sammyvision via Getty Images)
To understand the mystery of the Aagtekerke, we also need to understand the story of the Zeewijk.
The Zeewijk was a ship which was ostensibly similar to the Aagtekerke. Built in 1725, it was a VOC East Indiaman of similar size and crew and under the captaincy of Jan Steyns, it set off for Batavia in November 1726. Seven months later, on 9 June 1727, it was wrecked on Half Moon Reef in the Houtman Abrolhos, a group of islands 60 – 80 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia.
Unlike some VOC tragedies where few survived, a significant number of the Zeewijk’s crew managed to reach nearby islands. They salvaged timber and supplies from the wreck, constructed a makeshift sloop called Sloepie, and eventually sailed north to Batavia. Although the journey proved arduous and not all of them survived, the majority of Zeewijk castaways who set out in the newly built vessel completed their voyage and reached Batavia by early 1728.
Stories soon emerged that the Zeewijk survivors may have found evidence of another lost ship, possibly the Aagtekerke itself, but these cryptic findings were never confirmed.
While rumours occasionally surface that the Zeewijk castaways reported finding signs of a prior shipwreck, including evidence of human presence and wreckage that couldn’t be attributed to their own ship – possibly the Aagtekerke treasure ship – these accounts were never properly investigated.
No definitive documentation from the surviving Zeewijk crew mentions finding identifiable parts of another ship and the link between the two ships remains unproven, leaving the Aagtekerke’s fate a matter of ongoing debate among historians and wreck hunters.
What Happened to the Aagtekerke?
Sailing around the Cape of Good Hope is frought with danger (Credit: Richmatts via Getty Images)
The Aagtekerke mystery remains an enigma, with several theories attempting to explain its disappearance.
Wrecked off the Coast of Africa
The Aagtekerke was believed to be following the standard VOC route around the Cape of Good Hope and onto Batavia. Navigational challenges, unpredictable weather, and hidden reefs plagued ships making this journey, so one theory is that it hit a reef or ran aground during a storm somewhere off the southern tip of Africa. It was a fate that befell lots of ships, and if this was the reason, it would explain why no survivors or identifiable remains were recorded.
Wrecked off the Coast of Australia
Some researchers speculate that the lost ship Aagtekerke may have sailed too far east and foundered on one of the reefs along the coast of Western Australia, possibly in the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago. This is the theory that’s linked to the wreck of the Zeewijk. A number of maritime historians have suggested there were an excess of cannons and anchors at the Zeewijk site, which exceeds what the Zeewijk would have carried. Additionally, elephant tusks found in the area match records showing that the Aagtekerke loaded ivory at Cape Town, while the Zeewijk did not. However, there’s another school of thought that says there’s no evidence of excess cannons or anchors at the Zeewijk site and suggest that the ivory tusks could have been private cargo onboard the Zeewijk rather than evidence of a second wreck.
Alternative Locations
Some researchers propose that the Aagtekerke may have been wrecked elsewhere along Australia’s western coast or closer to Java due to storms or navigational errors. Historical VOC records speculate about its loss but they don’t provide any definitive evidence regarding its location. Perhaps it came to grief in an isolated location with little chance of being discovered? Wreckage might have been dispersed by currents or broken up on reefs, leaving no recognisable traces.
Piracy or Mutiny
The idea of a mutiny or an encounter with pirates occasionally surfaces in discussions about the Aagtekerke mystery. If the ship fell victim to pirates, records would likely be nonexistent if they killed the crew and seized the cargo. Mutiny, on the other hand, could have led to the ship changing course or even being scuttled under clandestine circumstances. However, documented cases of VOC ships lost to either piracy or mutiny without any trace are rare, making this an intriguing but not widely supported explanation.
Ongoing Efforts
Despite ongoing efforts to locate the lost ship Aagtekerke, no definitive finds have been made to confirm the shipwreck’s identity. In 2012, Hugh Edwards, a shipwreck hunter, historian and writer from Western Australia believed he and his team had found the wreck site of the Aagtekerke when they found an elephant’s tusk on the seafloor, close to the location of the Zeewijk.
In 2016, an aerial magnetometer survey identified magnetic anomalies in the Houtman Abrolhos islands that could indicate another shipwreck, possibly the Aagtekerke. However, these results were inconclusive, and while further investigations were planned they didn’t yield definitive evidence of a major wreck site.
There have been countless other expeditions to find the Aagtekerke treasure ship, but so far, none have proved fruitful. Thus while various theories abound, definitive answers remain elusive due to conflicting evidence and challenges in conclusively identifying wreckage.
Anchored in Legend
Is the Aagtekerke lost forever...? (Credit: Stephen Frink via Getty Images)
The Aagtekerke mystery still tantalises historians, archaeologists, and treasure hunters alike. Despite decades of research and numerous expeditions, no definitive evidence has yet confirmed the ship’s final resting place or the location of its fabled cargo of silver and ivory.
Recent discoveries, such as elephant tusks, anchors and cannons near the Zeewijk wreck site, have reignited hopes that the Aagtekerke lies nearby. However its fate remains unresolved. As modern technology continues to aid exploration efforts, the Aagtekerke treasure ship remains a maritime mystery.
