British Antarctic News

Scientists aboard Britain's high-tech polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough are headed to the Weddell Sea to investigate how carbon dioxide moves and transforms in the Southern Ocean.The ship departed Tuesday from Punta Arenas, Chile for the 30-day scientific expedition.As the carbon in the seawater rises to the surface near Antarctica, it interacts with the atmosphere, ice, and microscopic plants and animals, called phytoplankton and zooplankton, near the ocean surface, before descending to the ocean depths.

Britain's high-tech polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough is gearing up for its first Antarctic science cruise.Over the coming weeks, the crew and scientists on board the vessel will be carrying out a range of trials to test the ship's science equipment in both deep and shallow water around the Scottish coast. Among the tech to be tested are the vessel's moonpool, coring equipment and the ship’s workboat Erebus, all of which are critical elements of upcoming science missions.Erebus will be put through its paces with new equipment…

The National Oceanography Center (NOC) is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the scientific research ship RRS Discovery’s predecessor being designated as a Royal Research Ship (RRS), while the modern RRS Discovery becomes the first Research Vessel to be refitted at Babcock’s Rosyth facility, 35 miles away from the birthplace of the original vessel in Dundee.To mark this 100th anniversary, the current RRS Discovery will also join its ancestral inspiration, the original RRS Discovery in Dundee fromJune 2-4…

The U.K. has awarded Babcock International’s Rosyth shipyard a £45 million (approx. US$56.6 million) contract to maintain its fleet of three scientific research vessels.The initial three-year contract, announced by U.K. Industry and Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani earlier this month, will see the large oceanographic and polar research vessels RRS Sir David Attenborough, RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook dock at Babcock’s state-of-the-art facilities in Rosyth, Scotland, for programmed maintenance and upgrade work.

One of the world's most advanced polar research vessels is equipped with Atlas Copco marine-duty compressors.The RRS Sir David Attenborough, commissioned by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), built by Cammell Laird and operated by British Antarctic Survey, is a research platform engineered to transform how shipborne science is conducted in the Polar Regions. Its commissioning is part of a significant government polar infrastructure investment program designed to keep Britain at the forefront of world-leading research in Antarctica and the Arctic.

The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch has opened an investigation into a lifeboat drill accident that injured two crew members from the new polar research ship RRS David Attenborough. The two crewmembers suffered minor injuries after a lifeboat rolled onto its side and fell overboard during a launching drill in Loch Buie, on Scotland's east coast, on March 5, the MAIB said.RRS Sir David Attenborough—still known to some as Boaty McBoatface, the top vote getter in an online poll to name the vessel in 2016—was built by U.K.

Britain’s new polar research ship, the RSS Sir David Attenborough, has been formally presented with Lloyd's Register (LR) certification after a four-year-long construction period, the classification society said.The high-profile vessel, the U.K.’s largest commercial newbuild for over 30 years, was delivered to Natural Environment Research Council and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders. BAS undertake vital research in the polar regions, leading in polar science and polar operations…

It's the end of an era for the U.K.'s RRS James Clark Ross, which made its final call to Rothera Research Station in Antarctic on February 19 after 30 years of service. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the polar research vessel will be sold at the end of the 2020/2021 Antarctic season and replaced by the newly built RRS Sir David Attenborough.Rothera was the RRS James Clark Ross’s final call of the ship’s five-and-a-half-month mission to deliver scientific and operational staff to Antarctica, and to resupply the U.K. stations in Antarctica for another year.

Britain’s new polar ship, the Sir David Attenborough, headed for the open seas on Tuesday to start trials after a storm delay, before making its maiden voyage to Antarctica next year for climate change research.The 200 million pound ($260 million), state-of-the-art, polar research vessel, with its red hull and a bright yellow crane on its stern, sailed past Liverpool’s historic docks and out into the sea, headed for north Wales.Officially the ship is named after the veteran BBC naturalist David Attenborough…

When Captain Will Whatley guides a ship through Arctic waters, he is starkly aware of what can go wrong.Double the manpower is needed to navigate. Lookout shifts are kept to just one hour, so sailors don't lose concentration and miss a mass of floating ice. Big icebergs show up on radar, but smaller, truck-sized "bergy bits"—even more dangerous—can be missed, the captain says.The cold can freeze equipment and the earth's magnetic field disrupts compasses. If anything goes wrong…

The U.K.’s most advanced polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough left Cammell Laird shipyard Wednesday to commence two weeks of technical sea trials ahead of scheduled delivery to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in November.“Although the vessel’s construction is now complete, trials are a critical and final part of the program as they allow our engineers and the ship’s crew to put the vessel through its paces at sea,” said Linton Roberts, Director of Operations at Cammell Laird.

A new monohull landing craft will be one of two support craft on the U.K.'s polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough. Designed by Incat Crowther and built by Exeter Fabrication, she packs a lot of functionality into a compact platform.The Incat Crowther 14 Terror will play a critical role in the operations of RRS Sir David Attenborough which, in addition to its scientific role, will support the resupply of the five Antarctic research stations operated by British Antarctic Survey.

UK’s new polar research ship being built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead RRS Sir David Attenborough has achieved another important milestone with the commissioning and testing of the ship’s lifeboats and lifeboat davits.The lifeboats, each capable of carrying 90 people, are now in position on both sides of the vessel, along with the operational davits that allow for the safe deployment and recovery of the boats.RRS Sir David Attenborough is the first International Maritime Organisation’s Polar Code-compliant ship to have been built in the UK. These regulations extend to the ship’s lifeboats and davits, all of which are capable of operating at the Polar Service Temperature of -35ᵒC.British Antarctic Survey and Norsafe worked closely to develop the equipment…

The UK’s new polar research ship is being formally named the RRS Sir David Attenborough today (Thursday, September 26) by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and special guest Sir David Attenborough will be in attendance. A three-day public celebration, hosted at the shipyard by British Antarctic Survey and Cammell Laird, will follow the naming ceremony and aims to inspire and inform people about polar science, engineering and technology. Primary school students from the STEM Polar…

On Thursday, 26 September, the ceremonial naming of the new British polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough will take place at the Cammell Laird Birkenhead shipyard.The ship was commissioned by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, built by Cammell Laird, and operated by the British Antarctic Survey. This vessel is designed to transform how ship-borne science is conducted in the Polar Regions and its commissioning is part of a major UK Government polar infrastructure…

Norwegian shipping company GC Rieber Shipping has completed the process of redelivery and sale of the icebreaking research vessel 'Ernest Shackleton' to the new owner Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS).The redelivery of the vessel from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) marked the end of a nearly 20-year relationship between British Antarctic Survey and GC Rieber Shipping, said a press release from the operator of offshore subsea support vessels, marine seismic vessels and polar logistics and research expeditions.Ernest Shackleton was developed by GC Rieber Shipping based on decades of icebreaker experience and built at Kværner Kleven Leirvik in Norway in 1995.The vessel…

Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) has provided lifting and rigging products to BAM Nuttall Limited (BAM), which will utilize the equipment during the landmark modernization of the Rothera Research Station in the Antarctic.BAM is working in partnership with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), to deliver civil engineering projects associated with the RRS Sir David Attenborough, the UK’s new polar research vessel, commissioned…

A cargo ship loaded with 4,500 tonnes of steel and construction equipment required to build a new Antarctic wharf has arrived at British Antarctic Survey (BAS)'s Rothera Research Station.Staff awaiting its arrival cheered as the DS Wisconsin pulled alongside, guided for the final few hours through sea ice by the ice-strengthened RRS Ernest Shackleton. Work began immediately on the huge task of unloading the cargo, which is likely to take around two weeks.The ship, containing plant, 83 containers, permanent and temporary materials and 1,000 tonnes of steelwork, departed the UK in late November for her month-long journey.Her arrival at Rothera is a major milestone in the modernisation of the UK’s Antarctic infrastructure…

A ship loaded with 4,500t of equipment by BAM Construct UK has been sent on a month-long journey to Antarctica, where it will be used for building a new wharf at Rothera Research Station.The new wharf, being built over the next two Antarctic seasons, will provide safe berthing and efficient unloading for the new polar research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough. The Rothera Research Station is a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base on the Antarctic Peninsula, located at Rothera Point, Adelaide Island.The construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Camberley, United Kingdom said in a press release that BAM oversaw the loading of plant…

Naval architect and marine engineering firm Houlder has played a key role in the development of the U.K.’s new polar research vessel, RRS Sir David Attenborough, since it was first conceived by the British Antarctic Survey.CEO Rupert Hare will join members of the project team as hull number 1390, comprising 10,000t of steel, is launched at Cammell Laird Shipyard on July 14.As experts in ship construction, and ice class design in particular, Houlder worked with the British Antarctic…

The hull of the U.K.’s new polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough was launched from Cammell Laird shipyard Saturday, marking a major milestone toward the completion of one of the world’s most advanced scientific maritime vessels.Shipyard workers, engineers, scientists and maritime industry experts were among thousands who gathered to celebrate the launch along with special guest speakers, including renowned naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, who pressed…

Hutchison Ports Harwich International has become a new base for the British Antarctic Survey’s two ice-strengthened Royal Research Ships, the RRS James Clark Ross and the RRS Ernest Shackleton.The two ships are making their inaugural calls at the port in September before deploying to the Antarctic, where they will remain until summer 2019.Commenting on the calls, Mark Seaman, Finance Director, Hutchison Ports (UK), said: “Harwich International is well known for its excellent ferry links to the Continent, however, the port has a wide range of facilities and handles a variety of cargoes and ship types. We normally see general and project cargoes as well as both dry and liquid bulks…

For experts in the field of ocean mapping it is no small irony that we know more about the surfaces of the Moon and Mars than we do about our planet's sea floor."Can you imagine operating on the land without a map, or doing anything without a map?" asked Larry Mayer, director of the U.S.-based Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, a research body that trains hydrographers and develops tools for mapping."We depend on having that knowledge of what's around us - and the same is true for the ocean…