Willem Barentsz Voyages

Willem Barentsz was a Dutch navigator who made three Arctic voyages between 1594 and 1597 seeking a Northeast Passage to Asia. On the third, in 1596 to 1597, he discovered Spitsbergen and Bear Island, then was trapped by ice off the northeast of Novaya Zemlya, forcing his crew to overwinter in a driftwood lodge, Het Behouden Huys. Barentsz died on 20 June 1597 during the open-boat escape. The Barents Sea is named for him, and his abandoned camp, found intact in 1871, preserved an exceptional record of the expedition.