 At 400 tons, she was the largest carrack yet built, nearly twice the size of the largest ships that had gone on previous runs.She took her maiden trip from Portugal to India in 1502, under the command of Estevão da Gama, a cousin of Vasco da Gama.However, her return trip in 1503 met some complications—once loaded with spices, her large size and weight made her hard to maneouver, particularly in the fast currents of the Mozambique Channel (notably, around Cape Correntes).