There is plenty of development in London these days: the Shard is just the tallest example. But a new liveaboard boat development on the Thames? There hasn’t been one of those in 90 years.
That’s why we’ve put a camera on the Hans, a 112-feet-long vessel moored at the new Hermitage Moorings on the Thames in London. Built in 1916 in Amsterdam as a coastal steamer, it was the last vessel of her size to work in Norway as a cargo ship. She was originally fitted as a twin hatch coaster, with a center derrick and a small two-berth cabin for the crew. Later, she was converted for carrying grain and bulk cargos with tall silos. From 1960 until 2003, Hans was owned and operated by John Torkilson and his son Jarle. John did his last trip on Hans at the age of 78, doing the delivery from her home port of Mosterhabn to the southern Norwegian port of Egersund. In 2007, Hans began its conversion into our home and cruising barge. Today, the artist Julie Freeman and Gavin Starks of the Open Data Institute live and work on Hans, which is currently berthed at the first new official residential harbor development on the Thames in 90 years. Co-founded by Starks, Hermitage Moorings provides berths for over a dozen historic vessels like Hans.
