This painting shows a Dutch ship on calm waters. The ship is moving through a channel, towing a boat. The deck is full of figures all facing the bow of the ship. The vessel is depicted in port-bow view, as if about to sail past the spectator, displaying its minutely observed busy life on deck. It is flying the Dutch flag from the mainmast and a red flag with a device in gold at the stern. The view stretches to the horizon, suffused by light shimmering through the thin layer of clouds. In the distance the scene is flanked on either side by mountainous shores, crowned by a large medieval castle on the right. Although, the high rocks topped by a castle are not intended to be topographically correct, they are a motif used in Flemish landscape art which Vroom adopted into his marine work.

According to Vroom's biographer, Karel van Mander, Vroom’s fame rested not only on prestigious commissions for images of important battles and political events at sea, but, also, on his little ship pictures which he possibly developed from his experiences as a painter of Delftware and which may have found reflection in this medium-sized panel. In his ‘Schilder-Boek’ van Mander, also, hailed Vroom for his attention to detail as well as his depiction of nature and scenery:

'Vroom is an excellent master in this respect, in that he has not only much understanding of ships, good rigging, ropes and tackle, pennants, sails and other things of that kind, but he is also excellent in all other incidentals such as pieces of ground, landscape, rocks, trees, skies, water, waves, castles, villages, towns, figures, fishes and other things which accompany and enrich his ships.'

All these elements seem to be synchronized in this painting; the landscape adopts an idealized European setting, reminding the viewer of the sixteenth-century Flemish tradition and art of the Bruegel family. However, the lighting, here, is highly naturalistic and the convention of aerial perspective has been abandoned. The colours embrace a wide range of greens, browns and greys, illuminated and accentuated through the brighter-coloured details of the flags and figures. Vroom creates a stylistic balance with realistic detail which can be observed, for example, in the careful handling of the reflections in the water that marks out his mature works and which has, at least in part, been responsible for his reputation as the first Dutch seascape artist.

The artist, Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, was born in Haarlem in 1562 or 1563. Initially he earned his living as a painter of Delftware. Following this, he travelled extensively in Spain, Italy, France and Poland. In Italy he became acquainted with the painter Paulus Bril and obtained work from Cardinal Ferdinand de’ Medici. On his final return to Haarlem, he developed his career as a marine painter. In the 1590s, he was commissioned to design a series of ten tapestries for the English Lord Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham (Earl of Nottingham from 1596), to commemorate his victory over the Spanish Armada. From 1650 these hung in the House of Lords in Westminster and were destroyed in the fire of 1834. Although they are recorded in engravings, made by John Pine, in 1739. Vroom pioneered marine painting as a specialist form as the Dutch rose to become a leading maritime power. He worked widely in Europe and his importance was internationally recognized. He is regarded as the father of marine painting and he pioneered the painting of naval scenes and battles in a new style, showing careful attention to naval detail and rigging. Vroom died in Haarlem in 1640. He is generally hailed to be the first ‘Dutch’ marine artist. He outlived his pupil, Jan Porcellis, by eight years. This example is signed and dated on the flags, '1626 Vroom'.