Just over 500 years ago, there was a man devoted to the sea named Hendrik Van der Decken. This man was entrusted with the task of commanding a ship known as The Flying Dutchman. As the captain and his crew headed to the East Indies from Amsterdam to make their fortune, they were caught in a wild storm, which seriously damaged the ship, shattering the rudder and ripping the sails.

About midnight, near the Cape of Good Hope, when calm seemed to have come; the song of the wind became a furious cry that struck the masts and shook the ship with such violence that the crew began to shout at the captain:

—We must return, the ship has received a lot of damage and our lives are in danger!

But Captain Van der Decken was very greedy and he didn’t mind putting his life or the lives of others in danger, so he answered defiantly:

“The journey continues, even if it has to sail the seas until the end of time!”

After the unexpected response, the same sailors rebelled against him, but the captain bordering on madness, threatened to throw overboard anyone who contradicted his words. Alarmed, the men knelt down and began to pray; the boat was about to capsize.

Suddenly, the firmament split in two and a divine light emerged that illuminated the sea. From the light descended a celestial figure that confronted the captain, saying:

—You who put your ambition to the suffering of others, from now on you will be condemned to cross the ocean eternally between storms and tempests. From today, you can only eat red-hot iron and drink gall. Immediately afterwards, the celestial figure disappeared, taking with it the entire crew.

And that is how Captain Hendrik Van der Decken and the ship known as The Flying Dutchman were turned into ghosts and condemned to wander aimlessly through the seas, until the end of time.