New UK polar research vessel may NOT be called 'Boaty McBoatface'

Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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The name of a new polar research vessel will be chosen by a panel of experts, even if the public overwhelmingly votes to call it Boaty McBoatface.

Lord West, ex-First Sea Lord, said he was rather proud "silly names" had been suggested but hoped none were chosen.

The Natural Environment Research Council had urged people to name its ship in a competition, which saw Boaty McBoatface easily topping the poll.

The final name will be selected by the NERC, according to competition rules.

Boaty McBoatface is currently leading with more than 27,000 votes, while the second place pick trails with around 3,000.

The names Pingu, Usain Boat and It's Bloody Cold Here have also been put forward.

Lord West told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's a typical thing of the Brits going mad - normally silly reason, rather than this time of the year."

Experts could overrule 'Boaty McBoatface' name choice for polar ship

BBC News
21 March 2016


The £200m vessel should start operating in 2019

The name of a new polar research vessel will be chosen by a panel of experts, even if the public overwhelmingly votes to call it Boaty McBoatface.

Lord West, ex-First Sea Lord, said he was rather proud "silly names" had been suggested but hoped none were chosen.

The Natural Environment Research Council had urged people to name its ship in a competition, which saw Boaty McBoatface easily topping the poll.

The final name will be selected by the NERC, according to competition rules.

Boaty McBoatface is currently leading with more than 27,000 votes, while the second place pick trails with around 3,000.

The names Pingu, Usain Boat and It's Bloody Cold Here have also been put forward.

'Inspirational' name


Boaty McBoatface is currently leading with more than 27,000 votes

Lord West told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's a typical thing of the Brits going mad - normally silly reason, rather than this time of the year."

He said the NERC had only expected "marine research fans" to get involved.

"I think I would probably go for an Arctic or Antarctic explorer - that would be appropriate - bearing in mind this is a key bit of research where we are probably leading the world, and we should all be very proud of it.

"I'm rather proud that we have silly names going around, but I hope we don't select one."

The state-of-the-art £200m vessel will be launched in 2019 to replace Royal Research Ships (RRS) Ernest Shackleton and James Clark Ross.


The ship contract will secure 400-500 jobs at Cammell Laird on Merseyside

Launching the competition to name it last week, the NERC said it was looking for something inspirational - something that will exemplify the ship's work.

"We are excited to hear what the public have to suggest and we really are open to ideas," the chief executive said.

On Sunday, the poll website crashed under the weight of people trying to cast their votes.

'Very British thing'


The ability to break over a metre of sea ice will enable the ship to get to more research locations

James Hand, a former BBC Radio Jersey presenter, was behind the suggestion of Boaty McBoatface but says he has since apologised to the NERC.

"I've actually been speaking a bit to the people behind the website. I've apologised profusely.

"What I keep saying to people is, this is actually nothing to do with me. I made the suggestion but the storm that's been created, it's got legs of its own.

"I just feel it's a very British thing which a lot of people have pointed out."

Julia Maddock, acting associate director of communications and engagement at the NERC, responded to Mr Hand's apology on Twitter, saying her organisation was "loving it".

In another tweet, she wrote: "We wanted people to talk about our ship and get involved. We are delighted!"





Mr Hand said he was "still thoroughly rooting" for his idea to be chosen but understood the public's choices were only ever a suggestion.

In second place, with more than 3,000 votes, is RRS Henry Worsley. Worsley died trying to make the first unassisted solo crossing of the Antarctic in January.

Another of the more serious suggestions is RRS David Attenborough.

The 15,000-tonne, 128m-long vessel is being built at Cammell Laird on Merseyside.



The ship will have a length of 128m and a beam of 24m

It will have a gross tonnage of around 15,000 tonnes

20 laboratories, stores and workshops will be on board

It will be self-sufficient to operate for up to 60 days

This means it could cover roughly 30,000km

The ship will have space for two small helicopters

It will launch aerial and ocean robots, and seabed drills

Up to 90 scientists and support staff could live aboard


Experts could overrule 'Boaty McBoatface' name choice for polar ship - BBC News
 
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Curious Cdn

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How about naming it the "Roald Amundsen" who explored both poles as this ship is going to do? Let's see if the British are "big enough" to name it after the man who beat out Scott and Shackleton?
 
Blackleaf

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Curious Cdn said:
How about naming it the "Roald Amundsen" who explored both poles as this ship is going to do? Let's see if the British are "big enough" to name it after the man who beat out Scott and Shackleton?
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We're not naming it after a Norwegian. It will likely be named after one the myriad of great explorers that Britain has produced over the years.

And Amundsen beat Scott, not Shackleton, and there have been claims over the years that Amundsen cheated somehow.

I think a good name for the ship is RRS Ranulph Fiennes, after the world's greatest living explorer. Fiennes was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. Fiennes has also written numerous books about his army service and his expeditions as well as a book defending Scott from modern revisionists.

Another good name for the ship is RRS Clarkson-May, after the two former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May who, in a Top Gear special, became the first people in history to drive a car to the magnetic North Pole (they drove on the frozen sea amongst the islands of northern Canada and were racing Richard Hammond who was on a dog sled).

 
Blackleaf

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Toot the Tiny Tugboat is BRILLIANT. It's the best thing on weekday television until Pointless comes on at 5.15pm.
 
Blackleaf

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Although Boaty McBoatfacegate tells you all you need to know about British democracy today.

What's the point of allowing the public to choose the name of a ship in an online poll only to then convene a panel of "experts" to choose the name instead because they don't like the name the public has chosen?

In a true democracy, this new ship will be called Boaty McBoatface, the name chosen overwhelmingly by the great British public.

It also doesn't bode well for a Leave vote in the referendum. If such a scenario occurs, I suspect it won't be the end of the matter.

Coffee House

What the RSS Boaty McBoatface saga really tells us about British democracy

Ross Clark



Ross Clark
22 March 2016
The Spectator

Our leaders, of course, love democracy – until it comes up with an answer different to the one they were expecting. Last week, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announced an online poll for the public to vote for the name of a new Arctic and Antarctic-going vessel to replace my ageing near-namesake the RRS James Clark Ross. The outcome will tell us volumes about what public bodies really think of public opinion.

While a few members of the public favoured suggestions such as the RRS (royal research ship) David Attenborough and the RRS Henry Worsley, after the explorer who died in January after coming very close to the end of a solo crossing of Antarctica, the overwhelming favourite so far is the RRS Boaty McBoatface – a suggestion put forward by a former BBC presenter James Hand. At the time of writing it has 10 times as many votes as the next-highest suggestion.

So does that mean that come 2019 scientists will be packing their theodolites and setting sail on the RRS Boaty McBoatface? Don’t bet on it. Neither the NERC nor the universities and science minister Jo Johnson have yet made any pronouncement on the popular choice, but there has already been much huffing and puffing, with Lord West telling the Today programme this morning that he trusts the name will not be the one eventually chosen.

But why not? The NERC didn’t have to ask the public to vote on a name for the ship, but given that it did, it should respect the result. Anything else will be to expose the exercise as a sham – and all-too-typical of the high-mindedness with which government quangos and agencies treat public opinion. They always want our views, but ultimately it counts for nothing if the public want something at variance to a decision which has already been made by a closed committee.

Remember Nick Clegg’s exercise, soon after coming to office in 2010, to seek public suggestions for a piece of legislation to be abolished? It was quietly dropped after a few weeks after the government was overwhelmed with suggestions it didn’t like. In 2004 North Ealing MP Stephen Pound topped the private members’ bill ballot, allowing him to bring a bill of his choice before Parliament. He proudly put it into the hands of Today listeners, describing it a great democratic exercise – until, that is, the public voted for a new law to allow householders to attack burglars with whatever force they chose to. A sheepish Pound then came on the Today programme to announce that his faith in democracy had been shaken: ‘The people have spoken, the bastards,’ he said.

The name of a research ship doesn’t matter much, of course, but a far more serious test in democracy awaits us in June. If Britain votes to leave the EU I have a feeling, whatever David Cameron says, that it won’t really be the end of the matter. The government will flap around for a few weeks and then announce that the EU was prepared to make a few more concessions and perhaps then we’d all like to have another vote. That is, after all, what has always happened before when the people have dared to say no to the EU, in Ireland (the Lisbon Treaty referendum) and Denmark.

I don’t know about the RRS Boaty McBoatface, but the SS Principled Government will go down with all hands lost.


What the RSS Boaty McBoatface saga really tells us about British democracy | Coffee House
 
Blackleaf

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Ludlow said:
Seriously who gives a flying frig what the name of a stinking boat is?
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Tens of thousands of people who have voted on the ship's new name here - NERC - Can you name our new ship? - certainly do.

According to the NERC, "Due to overwhelming interest, the Name Our Ship site is currently experiencing technical issues." And if you believe that, you'll believe anytthing.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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JLM said:
Sounds like the name of a boat out of a children's cartoon.
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Well that should be its name. It's got ten times as many votes as soon as its name was suggested than the name with the second highest number of votes.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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So they allow the British public to name a ship but then when the British public choose a name - Boaty McBoatface - they say "No. We don't like that name, so we're going to choose a name instead." There's democracy for you.

The UK's new polar research ship is to be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, despite Boaty McBoatface previously topping a public vote.

A website inviting suggestions to name the vessel had attracted huge interest, with "Boaty McBoatface" being the clear favourite.

But Science Minister Jo Johnson said there were "more suitable" names.

The £200m vessel will instead be named after the world-renowned naturalist and broadcaster, days before he turns 90.

Sir David said he was "truly honoured" by the decision.

While the ship will not be named Boaty McBoatface, one of the remotely operated sub-sea vehicles will be named Boaty in recognition of the vote.

'Boaty McBoatface' polar ship named after Attenborough

BBC News
6 May 2016


UK science is set to get the most advanced polar research ship in the world

The UK's new polar research ship is to be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, despite Boaty McBoatface previously topping a public vote.

A website inviting suggestions to name the vessel had attracted huge interest, with "Boaty McBoatface" being the clear favourite.

But Science Minister Jo Johnson said there were "more suitable" names.

The £200m vessel will instead be named after the world-renowned naturalist and broadcaster, days before he turns 90.

Sir David said he was "truly honoured" by the decision.

While the ship will not be named Boaty McBoatface, one of the remotely operated sub-sea vehicles will be named Boaty in recognition of the vote.

James Hand, who first suggested the name Boaty McBoatace, said he was pleased the name would "live on".

In a tweet, he also said that RRS Sir David Attenborough was a "fitting and excellent choice".


Sir David Attenborough said he was "truly honoured" by the decision

Mr Johnson said: "The public provided some truly inspirational and creative names, and while it was a difficult decision I'm delighted that our state-of-the-art polar research ship will be named after one of the nation's most cherished broadcasters and natural scientists."

He added the ship would "put Britain at the forefront of efforts to preserve our precious marine environment".

And Prof Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic Survey, one of the principal users of the ship, told BBC News: "We are delighted with the name RRS David Attenborough. He is an important public figure who has engaged and inspired the public over generations with his passion for the natural world.

"This new ship will be at the forefront of polar science and deliver world-leading capability for UK research in both Antarctica and the Arctic."


The man who first suggested naming the ship Boaty McBoatface praised the name that was picked

Sir David said that he hoped "everyone who suggested a name will feel just as inspired to follow the ship's progress as it explores our polar regions".

"I have been privileged to explore the world's deepest oceans alongside amazing teams of researchers, and with this new polar research ship they will be able to go further and discover more than ever before."

Analysis


The keel of the new ship is expected to be laid in October

BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos

It's the diplomatic choice.

No, Sir David's name wasn't at the top of the public's list, but it was certainly among the favourites.

It's a fitting tribute to a man who has done so much to explain the wonders of the natural world to all of us.

"Boaty" lives on as the name of one of the ship's remotely operated submarines.

But why couldn't the main vessel itself have carried the name?

Here's one reason: imagine the ship were to get into trouble at some point in the future.

Imagine the headlines.

Remember, the places it will work are extremely hostile; they are dangerous.

But whatever your thoughts about Boaty and its suitability, it is the capability that the RRS Sir David Attenborough represents which ultimately matters.

UK science is set to get the most advanced polar research ship in the world.

Meanwhile, members of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee have said they want to discuss whether the public engagement project around the search for a name has been a success or a failure.

The chief executive of the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc), which was behind the vote, has been called before the Commons committee to give evidence on 10 May.

Nicola Blackwood, committee chair, questioned whether the process had been a "triumph of public engagement or a PR disaster".

The RRS Sir David Attenborough is being built on Merseyside and is due to set sail in 2019.

It will be the most advanced polar research ship in the world and will allow scientists to conduct research into the world's oceans and how to address climate change.

The ship will also enable scientists and technicians to stay at sea for longer and carry out research of the polar environments during the winter months.

The Boaty sub-sea vehicle will be dispatched from RRS Sir David Attenborough to allow the ship's research crew to collect data and samples from the deepest waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.

An alternative name of "Subby McSubface" is already doing the rounds on social media.


The name "Boaty" will be used for a remotely controlled submersible


'Boaty McBoatface' polar ship named after Attenborough - BBC News
 
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Curious Cdn

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The Ability to break through meter of ice is known as a "slish breaker" in these parts. One thing is for sure, it's not bound for the Antarctic ... not very close to it, anyway.
 
Blackleaf

Blackleaf

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Curious Cdn said:
The Ability to break through meter of ice is known as a "slish breaker" in these parts. One thing is for sure, it's not bound for the Antarctic ... not very close to it, anyway.
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Prof Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic Survey, one of the principal users of the ship, told BBC News: "We are delighted with the name RRS David Attenborough. He is an important public figure who has engaged and inspired the public over generations with his passion for the natural world.

"This new ship will be at the forefront of polar science and deliver world-leading capability for UK research in both Antarctica and the Arctic."
 
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Curious Cdn

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Blackleaf said:
Prof Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic Survey, one of the principal users of the ship, told BBC News: "We are delighted with the name RRS David Attenborough. He is an important public figure who has engaged and inspired the public over generations with his passion for the natural world.

"This new ship will be at the forefront of polar science and deliver world-leading capability for UK research in both Antarctica and the Arctic."
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No worries. The Aussies or Kiwis will rescue them.
 
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