The timber itself is most probably 'deals' (pine or fir) as one would expect from the long, straight planks and the region. The stern of the large vessel on the left is decorated with a depiction of the Virgin Mary, identifying the ship’s origin as the Catholic Southern Netherlands. The emblem of a bull on a blue ground high on the stern, and what appears to be a bull on the mainmast flag may indicate the ship's name. The tricolour stern ensign of black or dark blue above orange and white has not yet been identified. To the right an Amsterdam merchantman, followed by other vessels in the distance, arrives on the scene. Small boats dart around between the larger ships. Beyond the bustle, the shoreline of rounded rocks, pines and fir trees rises and guides the eye to the horizon. In the distance to the right the mountains on the opposite side of the fjord are visible. A small rocky island rises out of the water just beyond the shadow defining the foreground. The light seems to brighten towards the horizon and the artist has adjusted the lightness of the paint-layer on the panel accordingly. In the foreground van Eertvelt’s characteristic small figures in their bright clothes appear to be built up into flat relief with slightly thicker layers of paint. Thin brushstrokes executed in the same colour add distinct outlines and define the shapes. The glasslike green waves are crowned by thin white curly crests. The naturalism in the scene’s narrative is here balanced by a degree of stylisation in the depiction of the landscape and the rendering of perspective, betraying van Eertvelt’s stylistic roots in the 16th-century Flemish tradition. This ‘conservative’ rendering of landscape can be perceived both in Flanders and in the North until the late 1620s. Similarly, the pictorial concept of a Scandinavian shoreline is seen on both sides of the border.