In 1609, English sea captain and explorer Henry Hudson was hired by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) located in Amsterdam to find a Northeast Passage to Asia, sailing around Scandinavia and Russia. He was turned back by the ice of the Arctic in his second attempt, so he sailed west to seek a Northwest Passage rather than return home. He ended up exploring the waters off the east coast of America aboard the Flyboat "Halve Maen". His first landfall was at Newfoundland and the second at Cape Cod.