UK Polar Research Vessel Named

Tom Mulligan September 26, 2019

Built by Cammell Laird and operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the RRS Sir David Attenborough polar research vessel aims transform how ship-borne science is conducted in the polar regions. (Photo: British Antarctic Survey)

The UK’s new polar research ship is being formally named the RRS Sir David Attenborough today (Thursday, September 26) by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and special guest Sir David Attenborough will be in attendance.

A three-day public celebration, hosted at the shipyard by British Antarctic Survey and Cammell Laird, will follow the naming ceremony and aims to inspire and inform people about polar science, engineering and technology. Primary school students from the STEM Polar Explorer Program will meet the Duke and Duchess as they take a private tour of the ship and local primary schools that have been studying the Antarctic and climate change will take part in a ‘penguin parade’.

Commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation, and built by Cammell Laird and operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the new polar research vessel aims transform how ship-borne science is conducted in the polar regions and is part of a major Government polar infrastructure investment program totaling about $240 million designed to keep the UK at the forefront of world-leading research in Antarctica and the Arctic.