William Barents 1594 1596
The Pioneers 3
The bypass of the Asian continent, the North-East-Passage, meant a way to reach the Far East treasures. After several partly tragic attempts by the British to find the North-East-Passage, the Dutchman Barents managed to push forward to Novaya Zemlya and in the Kara Sea in 1594. The thrust to the North led to the discovery of Spitzbergen in 1596. A third North-Eastern expedition ended with the first scheduled hibernation. However, Barents died of scurvy on the way back home.