Nova Zembla

1596, influential Amsterdam Calvinist leader Petrus Plancius plans an expedition to allow the poor Dutch United Provinces competing with the Spanish arch-enemy's colonial trade by discovering a North East passage to the Indies. It's to be lead by legendary explorer Willem Barentsz, who failed before, and pragmatic captain Jacob van Heemskerck. Plancius's orphan foster son Gerrit de Veer is assigned as clerk-chronicler, but secretly to sabotage his affair with Petrus's daughter Catharina. Initially the brutish crew except one shipmate belittles and pesters the 'spoiled land lubber', but proving courage he wins respect. Heemskerk finds out too late about secret instructions to replace vital supplies with trade commodities and Barentz blindly insists, despite obviously outdated cartography, to follow the original course, too northern. So they run into ice off Spitzbergen, must built a winter shelter from the wreck and defend their wretched bodies against polar bear attacks. The survivors can only hope to be rescued in 1578.