He joined the Dutch East India Company in March 1732.
From June 1740 to April 1741 he sailed as "undermerchant" with the ship "Huis van Foreest" to Batavia, Dutch East Indies.
[1] Van Eck became governor during a war with the Kingdom of Kandy (1761-1766), started when king Kirti Sri Rajasinha invaded and conquered a number of cities and provinces with the aid of Dutch rebels.
In 1762 Van Eck managed to recapture the cities of Matara and Hanwella from the Kandyans.
Iman Willem Falck, his successor, following the acting governor Anthony Mooyart, finally was victorious and the agreement signed in February 1766 was the start of continued peace between the Dutch and Kandyans until the departure of the first from the island in 1798.