Britain’s new polarship, the Sir David Attenborough, headed for the open seas onTuesday to start trials after a storm delay, before making itsmaiden voyage to Antarctica next year for climate changeresearch.
The 200 million pound ($260 million), state-of-the-art,polar research vessel, with its red hull and a bright yellowcrane on its stern, sailed past Liverpool’s historic docks andout into the sea, headed for north Wales.
Officially the ship is named after the veteran BBCnaturalist David Attenborough, but to many Britons it willalways be known as “Boaty McBoatface”, after that suggestiontopped a public poll to name the vessel in 2016.
Its departure from Liverpool was delayed by around a weekdue to stormy weather, a British Antarctic Survey(BAS)spokeswoman said, with calm seas preferred to test andcalibrate its specialist equipment for the first time.
It will remain at sea for just under a week before berthingin Holyhead, Wales, once the current Welsh coronavirus lockdownends on Nov. 9, the spokeswoman added.
The BAS will operate the ship, carrying out ice trials inthe Arctic in early 2021 before a journey to the Antarctic inNovember next year, where scientists say it will transform UKresearch in polar regions
