When Daland and his Norwegian sailors spot the Dutchman's ship, they hail him. He tells them that he is doomed to sail the seas and can come on land once every seven years to seek redemption from the curse. Daland, who is rather greedy, hopes the wealthy stranger will marry his daughter, although Erik, a young hunter, has already been courting her. They go to Daland's house, where Senta promises obedience to her father's wishes. She has been feeling that Erik is a little bit too conventional and boring and she finds the stranger mysterious and romantic, so she sings her desire to be the woman who can redeem the Dutchman. He warns that her fate won't be pretty if she swears fidelity but fails to keep it, but Senta has fallen in love at first sight and pledges her faithfulness unto death. Party time! But when the sailors and their women call to the Dutch ship for the crew to come ashore and join the celebration, it becomes clear that the ship is manned by ghosts.