The industrious scene of a Dutch merchant ships being loaded with timber is set in a natural harbour along a Scandinavian fjord. Numbers of tree-trunks have been brought down into the bay in the left foreground, where they have been bundled into the water by workmen. Another ship is setting sail. On her stern is a painted or carved figure of Fortune, in the form of a naked female figure. The figure holds a billowing sail, an attribute of Fortune, demonstrating that like the wind she is unpredictable and bestows her favours at random. The ships in the background are either arriving or leaving the scene.

Small boats dart around between the larger ships. Beyond the bustle, the shoreline of rounded rocks, pines and fir trees rise and guide the eye to the horizon. A few settlements are dispatched around the coast. The light seems to brighten towards the horizon and the artist has adjusted the lightness of the paint-layer on the panel accordingly.

In the foreground van Wieringen placed small figures, in their bright clothes and they appear to be built up into flat relief with slightly thicker layers of paint. Thin brushstrokes executed in the same colour add distinct outlines and define the shapes. In the distance, to the right, the mountains on the opposite side of the fjord are visible.