Johanna (barge)

Johanna crossing the Briare aqueduct
History
Belgium
Name: Johanna
Owner: KR-Line
Operator: KR-Line
Route: Bruges to Paris, Champagne, Loire
Launched: 1966
Acquired: 2012
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type: Commercial passenger vessel
Tonnage: 300
Displacement: 180
Length: 32 m (105 ft)
Beam: 5.05 m (16.6 ft)
Height: 3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Draught: 1.40 m (4.6 ft)
Propulsion: single 310 horse power Deutz diesel
Speed: cruising speed 11km/h (in open waters)
Capacity: 8 passengers
Crew: 4 crew
Notes: Fuel capacity 6000 litres, Water capacity 13,000 litres, Grey water capacity 4500 litres

Johanna is a former working barge (péniche) of Freycinet dimensions, after the French minister of transport Charles de Freycinet who gave his name to an Act of Parliament in 1879, establishing a standard for French canals: they were to accommodate barges of 38.50 by 5.05m, carrying 250 tonnes to a draught of 1.80m. Thousands of such vessels were in operation on the network until the 1960s, when the decline in commercial traffic started. Many péniches were converted by their operators into permanent homes.[1] Johanna is one of around 60 hotel barges[2] offering luxury cruises on European waterways, most of them in France.

History

The barge was built in 1966 at the De Durme boatyard in Tielrode, Belgium (build number 365). The original Awa engine was replaced in the 1970s by a second-hand (built 1955) Deutz type direct-reverse, air-started, slow-running (600 rpm) engine developing 310 hp. At the same time the barge was lengthened to 42m. The principal cargoes were coal and iron between Germany and northern France. The owner ceased trading and shortened the barge to 32m in 1993, living aboard in Ham (Kwaadmechelen). The barge was acquired by the current owners in 2012.

Hotel barge

Johanna was fitted out in 2012-13 with three cabins and bathrooms. The salon and dining area, with open galley, has large windows offering views of the countryside and passing towns and villages, and the sun deck is often used for dining in the open air.[3] The barge winters in Bruges, Belgium, and migrates south each spring, with guests on board, offering cruises on the river Marne (Champagne region) and in the Upper Loire Valley (Canal lateral à la Loire).[4]

References

  1. ↑ Le Sueur, Bernard (2004). Mariniers: Tome 1, Histoire et mémoire de la batellerie artisanale. Douarnenez: Chasse-Marée Glénat. ISBN 2914208510.
  2. ↑ Les péniches-hôtels en France. Béthune, France: Voies Navigables de France. 2015. pp. 12–18.
  3. ↑ "Hotel barge Johanna".
  4. ↑ "Johanna cruises website".
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