For nearly two years now, Berengar had been shipping goods to and from the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, these massive steel vessels had to go through the Malacca strait. A region controlled by the Majapahit Empire, and despite the constant traffic through the area, Berengar had paid no tax. Though there had been attempts by the Majapahit empire's navy to force the German vessels to stop, they were all met with failure.
At first, the Majapahit Royal Family did not know who these steel behemoths belonged to, and had used various means to investigate their origin. Naturally, they requested knowledge of these foreign vessels from their Ming suzerains, who they paid tribute to. The Ming instantly knew who the massive ships belonged to and advised the Majapahit King not to interfere with German maritime activity.
