Germany's annual Torture Ship launched over the weekend with hundreds of fetish enthusiasts from around the world partying together on a huge barge.

It's hailed as the world's largest BDSM party to take place on water, taking place on the idyllic Lake Constance - which borders Austria and Switzerland - every June for the past 22 years.

Footage of this year's Torture Ship setting off from Friedrichshafen shows large crowds gathered to view the participants, who are dressed in full bondage gear including gimp masks, horse heads and revealing fishnet outfits.