New UK polar research vessel may NOT be called 'Boaty McBoatface'
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Ceremony to mark start of Attenborough polar ship construction
By Jonathan Amos, BBC Science Correspondent
17 October 2016
The RRS Sir David Attenborough will work both in the Arctic and the Antarctic
Construction of the UK's new £200m polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, formally begins on Monday at Cammell Laird on Merseyside.
A ceremony will see a crane lower a near-100-tonne segment of keel on to blocks on the firm's slipway. The ship is intended to be at work by 2019.
The vessel is already well known owing to the online vote to name it, which saw the public choose Boaty McBoatface.
An autonomous submarine deployed by the ship will be given that name instead.
The government decided that recognition of BBC TV presenter and naturalist Sir David Attenborough for the main vessel would be more fitting.
"The name Boaty has been preserved and will be whizzing around Antarctica for years to come, alongside me I'm happy to say," chuckled the veteran broadcaster.
And then, more seriously, he added: "I know that the work they will be doing onboard the new polar ship will be important, not only for science but for the whole world, because what happens down in the Antarctic is crucial for what happens to the climate of the Earth."
Unit 2000 is the first segment to be put down on blocks to form Hull 1390 at Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird's managing director, Linton Roberts, said Monday's keel-laying ceremony was an important moment for his company - an event that had drawn huge interest.
"To be honest I could have sold tickets, so many people wanted to attend," he told BBC News.
"It's another chapter in the yard's history. We've built every conceivable type of ship over the last 200 years. Obviously, we've come through a period when British shipbuilding has been in the doldrums, but we're fighting our way back and we see the RRS Sir David Attenborough as a breakout vessel to get us right up there into the top tier."
Cammell Laird believes the experience of delivering a complex project like the Attenborough will help it win future orders, not just for more research vessels but for a range of ships that might want to operate in the Arctic and the Antarctic.
There is growing interest, for example, in tourism at the poles; and regular cargo routes are likely to open up as the seasonal extent of sea-ice in the far north continues to diminish.
The Birkenhead shipbuilder signed the contract to construct the 128m-long vessel last November.
The deal committed the firm to deliver the ice-breaker in 31 months. Design work, led by Rolls-Royce, resulted in the first steel being cut in July, with the first welded unit of "Hull 1390" now ready to go on its blocks.
Sir David himself will be on hand to press the button that initiates the movement of the crane and its massive load.
Tradition calls for the first keel segment to be placed atop a coin. On this occasion, it will be a newly minted coin from the British Antarctic Territory (a British Overseas Territory).
"Once the ship is launched, we will recover the coin and we'll present it to the crew, for good luck while they sail the oceans," explained Mr Roberts.
An education programme is to be built around Boaty the submarine
Boaty the sub in diving pose at the keel-laying ceremony
Funding for the new polar ship was announced by the then chancellor, George Osborne, in April 2014.
The vessel is set to replace the UK's existing polar fleet - the RRS James Clark Ross and the RRS Ernest Shackleton.
The former currently does most of the science; the latter does the logistics. The Attenborough will have the capacity to perform both functions.
It will feature a big cargo hold, a helipad, cranes and onboard labs, and have the ability to deploy subs and other ocean survey and sampling gear.
Some of this equipment will go into the sea through an enclosed "moon pool", or "wet porch", inside the vessel.
The Attenborough will take over the duties of the UK's existing polar fleet
"One of the things that has revolutionised our ability to study the Southern Ocean and indeed all oceans has been autonomous instruments," said Dr Emily Shuckburgh from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
"Being able to send submarines underneath the surface, particularly under the ice, is helping us understand the key processes that are potentially leading to the instability of that ice, which ultimately could lead to many metres of sea-level rise."
This is where the yellow sub to be called Boaty McBoatface will make its mark.
It is a new long-range class of submersible that will could travel under the entire ice-covered Arctic Ocean if required. Indeed, such a venture may well feature as one of the Attenborough's first expeditions.
All manner of autonomous vehicles will be launched from the Attenborough
Another early project is likely to be the Orchestra programme. This is studying how Antarctic waters and the wider Southern Ocean are helping to control the global climate by drawing down heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Orchestra's leader, Prof Mike Meredith from BAS, believes the new ship can greatly expand the scope of data-gathering.
"The Attenborough is going to be a terrific new facility for the UK. It's a significantly bigger vessel than the James Clark Ross so it will enable us to have longer voyages and even go into different regions of the Southern Ocean where we haven't traditionally worked."
The Attenborough and Boaty are set to be the focal point on a new £1m government-funded Polar Explorer Programme.
The Natural Environment Research Council, which runs most polar science in the UK, is keen to exploit the popular interest generated around the online naming vote. Schools will be able to apply for education packs centred on ocean and polar topics.
STEM ambassadors, working to increase interest in science, technology, engineering and maths in schools, will also be working with children to bring these subjects alive.
The British Antarctic Territory crown coin will sit under the ship during its assembly
The British Antarctic Territory is a British Overseas Territory
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Ceremony to mark start of Attenborough polar ship construction - BBC News
By Jonathan Amos, BBC Science Correspondent
17 October 2016
The RRS Sir David Attenborough will work both in the Arctic and the Antarctic
Construction of the UK's new £200m polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, formally begins on Monday at Cammell Laird on Merseyside.
A ceremony will see a crane lower a near-100-tonne segment of keel on to blocks on the firm's slipway. The ship is intended to be at work by 2019.
The vessel is already well known owing to the online vote to name it, which saw the public choose Boaty McBoatface.
An autonomous submarine deployed by the ship will be given that name instead.
The government decided that recognition of BBC TV presenter and naturalist Sir David Attenborough for the main vessel would be more fitting.
"The name Boaty has been preserved and will be whizzing around Antarctica for years to come, alongside me I'm happy to say," chuckled the veteran broadcaster.
And then, more seriously, he added: "I know that the work they will be doing onboard the new polar ship will be important, not only for science but for the whole world, because what happens down in the Antarctic is crucial for what happens to the climate of the Earth."
Unit 2000 is the first segment to be put down on blocks to form Hull 1390 at Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird's managing director, Linton Roberts, said Monday's keel-laying ceremony was an important moment for his company - an event that had drawn huge interest.
"To be honest I could have sold tickets, so many people wanted to attend," he told BBC News.
"It's another chapter in the yard's history. We've built every conceivable type of ship over the last 200 years. Obviously, we've come through a period when British shipbuilding has been in the doldrums, but we're fighting our way back and we see the RRS Sir David Attenborough as a breakout vessel to get us right up there into the top tier."
Cammell Laird believes the experience of delivering a complex project like the Attenborough will help it win future orders, not just for more research vessels but for a range of ships that might want to operate in the Arctic and the Antarctic.
There is growing interest, for example, in tourism at the poles; and regular cargo routes are likely to open up as the seasonal extent of sea-ice in the far north continues to diminish.
The Birkenhead shipbuilder signed the contract to construct the 128m-long vessel last November.
The deal committed the firm to deliver the ice-breaker in 31 months. Design work, led by Rolls-Royce, resulted in the first steel being cut in July, with the first welded unit of "Hull 1390" now ready to go on its blocks.
Sir David himself will be on hand to press the button that initiates the movement of the crane and its massive load.
Tradition calls for the first keel segment to be placed atop a coin. On this occasion, it will be a newly minted coin from the British Antarctic Territory (a British Overseas Territory).
"Once the ship is launched, we will recover the coin and we'll present it to the crew, for good luck while they sail the oceans," explained Mr Roberts.
An education programme is to be built around Boaty the submarine
Boaty the sub in diving pose at the keel-laying ceremony
Funding for the new polar ship was announced by the then chancellor, George Osborne, in April 2014.
The vessel is set to replace the UK's existing polar fleet - the RRS James Clark Ross and the RRS Ernest Shackleton.
The former currently does most of the science; the latter does the logistics. The Attenborough will have the capacity to perform both functions.
It will feature a big cargo hold, a helipad, cranes and onboard labs, and have the ability to deploy subs and other ocean survey and sampling gear.
Some of this equipment will go into the sea through an enclosed "moon pool", or "wet porch", inside the vessel.
The Attenborough will take over the duties of the UK's existing polar fleet
"One of the things that has revolutionised our ability to study the Southern Ocean and indeed all oceans has been autonomous instruments," said Dr Emily Shuckburgh from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
"Being able to send submarines underneath the surface, particularly under the ice, is helping us understand the key processes that are potentially leading to the instability of that ice, which ultimately could lead to many metres of sea-level rise."
This is where the yellow sub to be called Boaty McBoatface will make its mark.
It is a new long-range class of submersible that will could travel under the entire ice-covered Arctic Ocean if required. Indeed, such a venture may well feature as one of the Attenborough's first expeditions.
All manner of autonomous vehicles will be launched from the Attenborough
Another early project is likely to be the Orchestra programme. This is studying how Antarctic waters and the wider Southern Ocean are helping to control the global climate by drawing down heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Orchestra's leader, Prof Mike Meredith from BAS, believes the new ship can greatly expand the scope of data-gathering.
"The Attenborough is going to be a terrific new facility for the UK. It's a significantly bigger vessel than the James Clark Ross so it will enable us to have longer voyages and even go into different regions of the Southern Ocean where we haven't traditionally worked."
The Attenborough and Boaty are set to be the focal point on a new £1m government-funded Polar Explorer Programme.
The Natural Environment Research Council, which runs most polar science in the UK, is keen to exploit the popular interest generated around the online naming vote. Schools will be able to apply for education packs centred on ocean and polar topics.
STEM ambassadors, working to increase interest in science, technology, engineering and maths in schools, will also be working with children to bring these subjects alive.
The British Antarctic Territory crown coin will sit under the ship during its assembly
The British Antarctic Territory is a British Overseas Territory
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Ceremony to mark start of Attenborough polar ship construction - BBC News
Can break through a meter of ice? We got speedboats that can do that. Try 3 meters @8 knots.Then you got an icebreaker instead of a boatload of tourists in need of rescue.
Don't tell us how to build icebreakers, old boy. We've been operating fleets of them for years.
I think that the Navy was too quick to dismiss the name Boaty McBoatface, kinda has a nice ring to it.
Mind you, there were other options like Drool Britannia or HMS Hood.
Nothing like the tried and true on this one
Very accurate and descriptive to be sure
What does your failed membership have to do with icebreakers?
"Vive l'Europe!"
I'll be saying the same thing as I watch from the safety of the non-EU sidelines, chewing on an apple and laughing as the EU goes up in flames...
You better hope the UK gets comprehensive trade deals around the world long before the EU sinks or you go down with it. Just saying you might not want the EU to sink too fast for your own sakes. In fact, even with the UK outside the EU, a strong EU would benefit the UK too.
The EU won't be around 20 years from now. It's finished. The French will be the next to leave. Twenty years from now it"all be no more.
Just like when we refused to join the euro in 2002, and europhiles predicted disaster for Britain whilst the Eurozone booms (and then the reverse happened), Britain's decision to leave the EU when it did will be proven to have been correct.
What the remaining 27 EU Member States now need to ask themselves is this: Who will make up the shortfall in EU funding now that the second-biggest contributor to the EU budget is leaving, or are EU budgets going to be cut?
What the heck does Boaty McBoatface have to do with whether Briddin stays or leaves?
Please note, folks, Jack Cade is now screaming "Bremainer! Traitor!" at anybody who disagrees with him or kids him about anything, even if it has nothing at all to do with the Brexit.
That boy'd scream "Bremainer!" if you said you don't like steak and kidney pie.
Formally, officially, clinically crazy.
There's a petition for Sir David Attenborough's name to be changed to Boaty McBoatface: https://www.change.org/p/jo-johnson-sir-david-attenborough-to-change-his-name-to-boaty-mcboatface