An artist’s impression of the polar research vessel being built for Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council.
When scientists in the U.K. asked the public to name their new $290 million polar research ship, they expected the name of an explorer or a naturalist. Apparently, they didn’t factor in the Brits’ oddball sense of humor.
By 9 a.m. Monday, more than 27,000 people had voted to name the ship “RRS Boaty McBoatface,” almost 10 times the votes of any other name, NBC News reported.
The poll was launched Thursday by the National Environment Research Council, the government-funded body building the ship in Cammell Laird shipyard, near Liverpool. Expected to set sail in 2019, the 420-foot vessel will “provide the U.K. with the most advanced floating research fleet in the world,” the NERC said.
The website has been crashing over the weekend under the weight of the unexpected increase in traffic.
Published 4 hours ago
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