Ship named RRS Sir David Attenborough

MAY 06 2016

On 6 May 2016 science minister Jo Johnson announced that the NERC vessel would be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, overriding the poll winner in the naturalist's ninetieth-birthday year. As a concession to the 124,109 voters, NERC gave the name Boaty McBoatface to one of the ship's autonomous submersibles. The decision drew a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee session.