Editorial

International Journal of Maritime History, vol. 36, pp. 181–182

Abstract

This issue begins with Andrei Mirea's insightful contribution on the challenges faced by skippers and sailors while navigating the Black Sea during winter.While historians have extensively covered similar issues in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea has often been overlooked.Mirea's contribution fills this gap by utilizing a combination of Byzantine and Italian sources, leading to a re-evaluation of existing data and offering new insights into the intricate planning required for winter navigation in the Black Sea for trade and travel.Pierre Niccolò Sofia initiates a discussion on the so-called Venetian stagnation of the eighteenth century, questioning whether Venetian dominance in the sixteenth-century Mediterranean truly ended with the entry of Northern Europeans into trade.Sofia concludes that Venetian participation in shipping during the eighteenth century was sustained by diplomatic arrangements with major threats, particularly the Barbary States.Following the 1760s, numerous treaties between Venice and the Barbary corsairs facilitated Venice's resurgence in Mediterranean shipping, primarily owing to reduced transaction costs associated with risk and conflict management vis-à-vis North African polities.Meanwhile, as Venice was reclaiming its position in Mediterranean shipping, the Danish East India (Asiatic) Company faced a setback with the loss of its ship, the Tranquebar, to a Maratha fleet during a depredatory campaign.Jorge Simon Izquierdo and Jørgen Mikkelsen describe the capture of the Tranquebar and the ensuing international dispute after the Marathas delivered the ship to the Portuguese.They frame their study within the context of Early Modern European prize law and its influence on international relations that include non-Europeans and focus on the Indian Ocean basin.Remaining in Asia, Ron Brand and Kristen Kamphuis explore the experiences of three missionary sisters aboard Dutch ships bound for the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).These sisters lived from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.Their travel logs and diaries depict the challenges and social dynamics aboard Dutch ships heading to Asia, offering unique perspectives informed by Christian morality and human expectations.The last two articles in this issue delve into more recent history.Juan Diaz Benitez reconsiders the strategic importance of Portuguese and Spanish Atlantic islands during World War II, emphasizing their role in the neutrality decisions of both countries and their significance to German strategists after 1940, particularly after the Spanish declaration of 'non-belligerence'.The final article by S. June Kim focuses on the repercussions of the oil crises for Korea's shipping industry during the 1980s.Following explosive growth in the 1970s, Korean shipping faced overcapacity and a subsequent crisis.This unrest quickly

Authors 2

1. Cátia A.P. Antunes Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University, The Netherlands

2. Michiel van Groesen Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University, The Netherlands