This red-painted vessel once served as a beacon at South Goodwin Sands off the Kentish coast but, now permanently moored at Trinity Buoy Wharf, has been converted into a recording studio.

The 550 tonne ship was built in 1939 by Philip and Sons of Dartmouth for Trinity House, a company established during the reign of King Henry VIII initially to regulate pilotage on the River Thames. It later established lighthouses and floating lightships and took over responsibility for all buoys in England. It currently maintains 65 automated lighthouses.

The steel-hulled vessel, one of three built to the same design (one, converted into a home, is now at Victoria Dock in Silvertown – and currently for sale with an asking price of £595,000 – and another in Rotterdam, The Netherlands), features a central light tower and originally had crew quarters.

It was mostly used to mark South Goodwin Sands but was also deployed to other locations including Inner Dowsing off the coast of Norfolk.

In the 1990s, it became the first light vessel in the UK to be converted to solar power to enable unmanned operation and underwent a complete refit in 1999.

It was taken out of service in 2003 and subsequently sold at auction by Trinity House. Initially bought by the Port Werburgh Marina on the Medway, it was later onsold to Ben Phillips who converted it to a floating music recording studio. Since 2008, it has been based at Trinity Buoy Wharf.