But the ship’s remotely operated undersea vehicle, which will collect samples from the deep waters of the Arctic and Antarctic, will be called Boaty McBoatface.
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“Hello, #BoatyMcBoatface! The name lives on as the remotely operated vehicle aboard RRS Sir David Attenborough”, Johnson said in a tweet.
After a spirited Internet response chose “Boaty McBoatface” as the name for a research ship, Britain’s science minister said a more suitable name was needed.
Like this biology teacher, who posted the handwritten letter Sir David sent to her pupils after they got in touch with their “pen pal”.
Attenborough, who will turn 90 on Sunday, said he was “truly honored” by the decision, BBC reported.
Despite being the overwhelming favourite, Boaty McBoatface is not going to be the new name of a United Kingdom polar ship.
He said the name had captured the public’s imagination when officials chose to ask Britons what the vessel should be named.
Ships are traditionally named after heroic explorers.
And, as the internet tends to do, it overtook the poll with the amusing “Boaty McBoatface” moniker, making it the runaway victor with more than 124,000 votes.
The council noted that it retained authority to choose the final name shortly after Boaty McBoatface was chosen.
The government says the name was “one of the top suggestions” – but conceded it only received 11,000 votes.
“The public provided some truly inspirational and creative names”.
The RRS Bowie, RRS Kanye West and RRS The Miss Cilla Black were also floated as possible names.
The story so far: The NERC launched an online competition to name its new $300 million research vessel.
The RSS Sir David Attenborough is now being built on shipyards in Merseyside, and it will provide the United Kingdom with the most advanced sea-going research fleet in the world when it sets sail in 2019.
Last month, however, officials said that the vessel was unlikely to be named “Boaty McBoatface”.
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As the biggest commercial shipbuilding contract in Britain, the construction of RRS Sir David Attenborough is supporting 400 jobs and 60 apprenticeships.
