image:Thor Heyerdahl Bergen der Segel 0206.jpg, left, Work in the rig, 2007 ''Thor Heyerdahl'' (named after Thor Heyerdahl), originally named ''Tinka'', later ''Marga Henning'', ''Silke'', and ''Minnow'', was built as a freight carrying motor ship with auxiliary sails at the shipyard Smit & Zoon in Westerbroek, Netherlands, in 1930. Her original homeport being Hamburg, Germany, she was used for the next 50 years as a freighter. Eventually sailing under the Flag state, flag of Panama as ''Minnow'' and then awaiting further use in Germany, she was bought in 1979 by two sailing enthusiasts, who turned the now run-down ship into a topsail schooner to use it for sail training, especially for teenagers and young adults. One of the two original owners was Detlef Soitzek, who had sailed with the Norwegian anthropologist, zoologist, ethnologist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl on his ''Tigris'' expedition in 1977/1978, and suggested naming the ship after the famous researcher and adventurer. The ownership of the ship was subsequently turned over to an association. From spring to fall, ''Thor Heyerdahl'' sails mainly the Baltic Sea and participates in international sail training events. In winter, the ship has repeatedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean and sailed in the Caribbean, especially as ''classroom under sails'' with teenage crews.

External links

Website of ''Thor Heyerdahl'' (ship)
{{Authority control Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of Germany Schooners Training ships 1930 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Thor Heyerdahl