Shipbuilding

We have considered a variety of methods to approach the total size of value added in the shipbuilding sector that was derived from slave-based activities. Van Zanden and Van Leeuwen calculate the value added in the shipbuilding industry on the basis of the estimates of fleet size that were compiled earlier by Van Zanden and Van Tielhof, the underlying data on the number of ships active on various trading routes once again going back to Van der Oudermeulen.25 Of course, numbers of ships do not tell much about shipbuilding requirements (replacement and repair), unless the differences in ship-size between merchant- men sailing on European and trans-Atlantic routes are factored in, as well as the differences in usage. Van Zanden and Van Tielhof produced a measure that consisted of the numbers of ships active on different routes, an estimate for the average size of the ships sailing on those routes (in last), and the distance of the routes in kilometres. Since their calculations for the value added in shipping are based on this measure, we can assume that the share of slave based value added in the total value added contributed by the shipping sector also reflects the claim that slave-based activities laid on Holland’s shipbuilding capacity. This share (based on the calculations presented above) was 31.7 per cent. With the total value added in shipbuilding, Holland’s most important industry, estimated at fl.3.1 million, this brings us at a total of fl.984,000 depending on slave-based trade.