The Spanish strategic intent to wrest from the Dutch their only military port in the western part of the North Sea, was offset by the conquest of Sluis by Maurice, which thereafter came to replace Ostend as a base of operations for the Dutch military. In 1605 the Dutch East India Company (VoC) made serious inroads into the Portuguese spice trade, by setting up bases in the Moluccas. These advances signalled a potential threat that the conflict might spread further in the Spanish overseas empire. That threat became more apparent when the Dutch scored a major naval victory over the Spanish fleet intended to find the merchant ships of the VoC at Gibraltar in 1607. In addition, the scale of the Ostend siege and Spinola's subsequent campaign had exhausted the Spanish treasury so much that in November 1607 Philip III announced a suspension of payments after the Spanish Royal Treasury had declared bankruptcy. The balance of power had led to a balance of exhaustion and after decades of war, both sides were finally prepared to open negotiations leading to the Twelve Years' Truce. As a result, the draining Ostend siege has been accounted a Pyrrhic victory for Spain.