This small panel painting, attributed to Bonaventura Peeters, is an example of the Netherlandish tradition of marine painting. Such scenes were often imagined, rather than documentations of actual events. Here, the setting appears foreign to Europe, suggested by the Turkish or Middle Eastern costumes and the steep, rocky coast, very unlike the topography of the Low Countries. The larger ships with their blue pennant flags may be Venetian; historically the Venetian and Ottoman empires were great trading partners.

Above the seafaring activities — tar boiling for the careening of hulls on the shore, loading and unloading of ships, the salvaging of a wrecked vessel — the dark tonality of the sky reminds us of the power of nature and the constant threat of storms faced by those at sea.