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In the early modern period, intermittent connections between Europe and the Malay world were established through Portuguese, Dutch, and British voyages to the East Indies. During these long-distance maritime journeys, new nautical devices were set up and put to the test in order to ward off the ever-present danger of shipwreck. This technical enterprise also echoes a deep-seated spiritual concern : that of saving one’s soul even if there are no ministers nor burial grounds around, for death at sea is considered as one of the most perilous spiritual ordeals one can undergo. Hence the use, on board of both European and Malay ships, of multi-faceted supplication rituals, that appeal both to official religious tenets (whether Christian or Islamic) and to local or occupational mythologies.