It is generally believed that this painting illustrates an East India fleet returning to Holland from a successful voyage to the East. It may have been commissioned by an owner to commemorate the return of his ship from the East. In the left foreground is the shore. Several groups of figures stand, on the shoreline, looking out at the passing shipping. The men in the group, on the extreme left, are probably military. One gestures towards the ships. To the right is another group consisting of a couple and a single woman. She is gesturing in the direction of the vessels. Behind this group, another couple is reclining on the ground. A small dog, looks out towards the ship's boat, directing the eye of the spectator towards the boat, in the centre foreground. This vessel is transporting people across to the ship on the left.

The ship, on the right, is closer to the viewer. She has a full-length figure of St Catherine, holding her wheel, on the tafferel and bears the inscription 'ANNO CATARINA1649'. The figure of St Catherine corresponds with the inscription and, most likely, identifies the name of the ship as Catarina. She has a flag at the main with a complicated device on it and, at the fore, a many-striped flag the size of a jack. A pendant and ensign, which bears a device, are flown underneath. She was probably built in Rotterdam since she typically has tops to the fore- and main topmasts. Beyond her is the starboard bow of another large ship flying a many-striped jack defaced with an inset decorative panel and a flag with an emblem at the fore. Other shipping is visible in the distance, left and centre, and three porpoises are shown swimming in the right foreground. The date, 1649, which appears on the upper transom is probably the date of the ship rather than that of the painting. A date of c.1650 has been proposed, but the dress of the first group of figures standing on the extreme left suggests a date of around 1660, as in BHC0862.

Born in Leiden, van de Velde moved to Amsterdam with his two sons Adriaen and Willem, who were also painters. The former and elder painted landscapes but with Willem, the younger, he formed a working partnership specializing in marine subjects which lasted to his own death. Willem the elder was primarily a draughtsman who spent his career drawing ships and is believed to be one of the earliest artists to accompany fleets into action to record these events. He did this officially with the Dutch fleet from 1653. The resultant works, known as grisaille drawings or more accurately as pen-paintings ('penschilderingen'), were done in pen and ink on prepared lead-white panels or canvases. This technique enabled van de Velde's work to be full of detail and show his knowledge of shipping. He originally applied a cross-hatching technique to show darkness and shadow. However, from the late 1650s, van de Velde increasingly used a brush to indicate shadow, clouds or waves as well as hatching to give tone to his pen-paintings. In this example very little wash remains. Van de Velde made a number of pen-paintings with a similar composition to this picture; that is, with two large ships, in the foreground, approached by a boat and onlookers standing on the shore, in the foreground, to the left or right. It is likely that the artist made pen-paintings of this kind for collectors who were associated with the ships depicted, usually their owners. Van de Velde was the leading Dutch master in marine grisailles but also produced a handful of oils towards the end of his life. He visited England briefly on two occasions, in 1661 and 1662. By 1673 he had moved to England permanently with his son, Willem the younger. Both artists worked for Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York, and they became the founders of the English school of marine painting. A great deal is known about him thanks to a list of his depictions of naval battles compiled in January 1678 by Captain Christopher Gunman. The painting is signed 'W. V. Velde' in the bottom left.