van barentzs voyages by Gerrit de veer 1598 the hut. Willem Barentsz (William Barents or Barentz) (c. 1550 20 June 1597) Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer. He went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northeast passage. During his third expedition, the crew was stranded on Nova Zembla for almost a year. Barentsz died on the return voyage in 1597. In the 19th century, the Barents Sea was named after him.