This remarkable dramatic small drawing was made very late in van de Velde’s life, perhaps around 1705. The ship has only her foremast standing and is drifting towards a high coast in the left background. On the left a boat is making for the shore, and in the right background there is a ship under sail. The drawing is very rapidly drawn with fast bold strokes of the pen without attention to detail. The dramatic effect of light in the sky and sea is achieved with equally rapid washes, with areas of paper left reserved white. The purpose of the drawing is not known, but it may be connected with the working out of a composition for a painting to be executed either by van de Velde himself or a member of the studio.