Bet they’re regretting opening this one up to the public…
A Royal Research ship worth £200 million could very possibly be named RRS Boaty McBoatface in what may be the silliest and most amazing decision The National Environment Research Council has ever made.
Opening the naming process to the public in an online poll, the name is so popular that the site actually crashed because of the huge amount of traffic attempting to get online and vote for it.
Our current top 4 #NameOurShip suggestions. Have you voted yet? https://t.co/Vv5Or05r9l pic.twitter.com/Uf4u1XyHYf
— NERC (@NERCscience) March 18, 2016
As expected, all of the sensible names have been washed out by Boaty McBoatface, and with 15,000 votes so far it looks like it will be the clear winner.
The name, which was suggested by school communications manager James Hand now has it’s own Twitter account.
I’m terribly sorry about all of this, @NERCscience.
— James Hand (@JamesHand) March 20, 2016
You know what’s a good idea? Naming a boat RSS Boaty McBoatface #MakeItSo #BoatyMcBoatface pic.twitter.com/6aDojmy3uR
— Boaty McBoatface (@BoatyMcBoatface) March 19, 2016
Here’s where you can vote if you want to get on board, once the site is up and running again.
However, (quite sensibly) the NERC have issued no guarantee that the winning name will be emblazoned on the side of the ship.
Rage.
Lead image via Twitter/NERCscience.
