Historically, early Portuguese explorers overlooked possibilities for colonization of the southern cape of Africa, despite having been the first Europeans to discover it. This is because they found the rocky beaches unsuitable for landing and the economic profits not worth it. However, other European powers saw the Cape as an important stop-off point. The first to catch the opportunity were the Dutch, who, after their ship the Nieuwe Haarlem was shipwrecked in the port in 1649, decided to create a settlement. They built a trading post, but later sold it to Denmark-Norway in 1562.