--- title: A British Research Ship Could Be Named 'Boaty McBoatface' description: That's what happens when you ask the Internet for suggestions canonical: https://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-21T04:32:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:31:01.197Z og:title: A $300 Million Research Ship May Be Named 'Boaty McBoatface' og:description: This is what happens when you ask the Internet for help. og:url: https://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A $300 Million Research Ship May Be Named 'Boaty McBoatface' twitter:description: This is what happens when you ask the Internet for help. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The Internet Wants to Name a $300 Million British Research Ship _Boaty McBoatface_ by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Mar 21, 2016 4:32 AM UTC by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Mar 21, 2016 4:32 AM UTC For a state-of-the-art [research ship](http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/releases/2016/10-ship-naming/) that will cost the U.K.’s National Environment Research Council (NERC) almost $300 million, _Boaty McBoatface_ may not be the most appropriate name. But that’s what happens when you [ask the Internet](https://nameourship.nerc.ac.uk/about.html) for suggestions. The tongue-in-cheek moniker is winning out over more conventional names for the polar exploration vessel like _Endeavour_, _Falcon_ and _David Attenborough_. It was suggested by a communications manager named James Hand, who subsequently [apologized](https://twitter.com/JamesHand/status/711479521132810241) to NERC on Twitter (and clarified that the numerous Boaty McBoatface [accounts](https://twitter.com/JamesHand/status/711579675714314242) on the site have [nothing](https://twitter.com/JamesHand/status/711326833246146560) to do with him). [Other glib names](https://nameourship.nerc.ac.uk/entries.html) for the ship, which is set to launch in 2019 and will carry 90 scientists and additional staff in the Arctic Ocean, include _I’m the Captain Now_, _It’s Bloody Cold Here_, _Ice Ice Baby_ and _Notthetitanic_. Those hoping to see the R.R.S. _Boaty McBoatface_ elegantly slicing through the frigid waters may be disappointed, however, as a caveat on the website — which has seemingly crashed because of a traffic overload — [states](https://twitter.com/kbradnam/status/711287573679833091) that “the final decision on the name of the ship will be taken by the Chief Executive of NERC.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/"},"headline":"The Internet Wants to Name a $300 Million British Research Ship Boaty McBoatface","datePublished":"2016-03-21T04:32:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:01.197Z","description":"The ship is set to launch in 2019 and will carry 90 scientists","url":"https://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Britain","viral","Research","ship"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4265572/nerc-name-our-ship-boaty-mcboatface/","name":"The Internet Wants to Name a $300 Million British Research Ship Boaty McBoatface"}}]}] ```