The northern Netherlands became a center of global trade economy in late 16th century. The establishment of VOC and success in long distance trade were said to be the main factors of rapid development of the Netherlands. However, one specific knowledge was needed necessary for VOC to function properly, and for merchants to make huge profits from the trade. That knowledge was navigation. Many mathematicians made efforts to improve navigation in the Netherlands and Simon Stevin was one of them. Stevin was the inventor of decimal fraction system and he was both a teacher and a military officer of Maurits van Nassau who was the most influential political figure near around 1600. In this article, I will discuss the main problems and characteristics of navigation circa 1600 by focusing on some works of Stevin. Making the safe and fast navigation was not an easy matter. Sailors who were headed for Asia or America needed informations on the sea route and weather including seasonal wind. They also wanted nautical maps which can be used easily in the sea. To find the destination and to calculate their own location in the sea, sailors had to learn methods measuring both longitude and latitude. Instruments used in navigation were also needed to be developed. Stevin made great efforts to find solutions for all such matters in cooperation with Maurits. Navigational knowledge in the early modern period had the synthetic character with many substructure, therefore, the knowledge needed to be organized to be used in the real long distance trade. VOC and the State General of the Netherlands conducted those organizing works by gathering informations, composing committees, establishing educational institutions, and supporting mathematicians such as Stevin. Scientific and technical efforts of the mathematicians and deep interests of the state on navigation were one of the essential prerequisite for the Netherlands grasping economic hegemony in the 17th century.