«Амстердам»: Голландский Ост-Индский корабль XVIII века

18th century cargo ship of the Dutch East India Company

The Amsterdam was an 18th century cargo ship of the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie; VOC). The wreck is protected and diving on it or removing timbers or any artefacts is forbidden. The ship may be visited as the timbers are exposed at very low tides in the sand just opposite the footbridge over the railway line at Bulverhythe.

A replica of the ship was built in Iroko wood by 300 volunteers using modern tools as well as tools of the period, between 1985 and 1990 at the Zouthaven (now Piet Heinkade), Amsterdam. It is moored next to the Netherlands Maritime Museum, where it is open to visitors of the museum (which has now reopened after being closed for several years for renovations). As for the original ship, there had been hopes in the 1980s that the Dutch Government, which still owns it, might excavate the whole wreck and return it for restoration and display in Amsterdam, like the Regalskeppet Vasa in Sweden, or the Mary Rose in Portsmouth, but the funds were not forthcoming. Several decks and much of the bowsprit lie submerged in the mud and are in remarkably good condition, being naturally preserved by the mud, and much of the cargo is still aboard.

The comic book Angst op de "Amsterdam" of Spike and Suzy is about the Amsterdam. The book was published in 1985 in The Red Series of Spike and Suzy. In the miniature park Madurodam in The Hague is a model of the Amsterdam on a scale of 1:25. The Amsterdam Museum also has a wooden model of the ship with to the side a 'Camel' lifting mechanism. Shanty Punk band Skinny Lister, some of whom live in Hastings, released a single "Damn the Amsterdam" about the ship.