Significant Dutch shipwreck artefacts come to Western Australian Museum

The State Government has unveiled a significant collection of artefacts from four famous 17th and 18th century Dutch East India Company ships wrecked off the Western Australian coast.

Culture and the Arts Minister John Day was joined by Netherlands Ambassador His Excellency Mr Willem Andreae today to view the collection at the Western Australian Museum - Shipwreck Galleries, Fremantle.

"This significant collection of artefacts - which was gifted to Australia by the Kingdom of the Netherlands - includes cannon and cannon balls, lead ingots, pottery, elephant tusks, amber and pitch, as well as rare objects owned by crew and passengers, including navigational instruments and ornaments," Mr Day said.

"Following the discovery of the wreck sites of the Batavia, Vergulde Draeck, Zuytdorp and the Zeewijk in the 1960s, a bilateral agreement between the Netherlands and Australia was signed in The Hague in 1972 placing collections from the ships in both countries.

"In the early 1970s, the WA Museum took over the historic Commissariat building in Fremantle and renovated it to hold the majority of the collections, including timbers from the hull of the Batavia, which struck a reef in the Abrolhos in 1629, almost 200 years to the day before the foundation of the Swan River Colony."

About 110,000 people visit the WA Museum - Shipwrecks every year, many from overseas and the Minister said the museum would ensure that the collections would be studied, appreciated and displayed for generations to come.

"As ongoing research reveals more about these ships and their demise, visitors to the museum will learn more about the tragic loss of life, the stories of marooned survivors and, in the case of the Batavia, mutiny and murder," Mr Day said.

"Over the years, the demise of these ships, their discovery and protection has led to an increasingly strong bond of friendship and co-operation between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the WA Government."

Premier Colin Barnett will officially accept the collection from the Netherlands Ambassador on Monday evening in the Western Australian Museum - Shipwrecks' Batavia Gallery.

Minister's office - 9213 6600

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