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title: A British Research Ship Could Be Named &#x27;Boaty McBoatface&#x27;
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# The Internet Wants to Name a $300 Million British Research Ship _Boaty McBoatface_

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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.”

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