Natural Environment Research Council News

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 UK National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has secured funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which will take robot submarine ‘Boaty McBoatface’ around end-of-life oil and gas fields. The Autonomous Techniques for infraStructure Ecological Assessment (AT-SEA) project, led by the NOC will trial the concept of using submarines like Boaty for high-tech, low-impact monitoring to pick up any potential environmental impacts at these sites, NOC said.The NOC has received £670…

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…

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.

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…

Data sharing and better understanding of how marine life interacts with manmade structures is the target for the next phase of the Insite program.What to do with offshore structures is a sticky problem for oil companies, regulators and policy makers alike, as many structures are starting to cease production in the North Sea, where some fields have been producing oil and gas since the early 1970s.Regulations, which include the OSPAR (Oslo Paris convention) state that a clear seabed should be left behind, once production has ceased, with some exceptions (platforms over a certain age and weight).

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…

Researchers have deployed high-tech robotic sensors disguised as boulders for the first time to measure the initiation and evolution of the huge, hard-to-measure seafloor avalanches that regularly damage global networks of seafloor telecommunication cables.The so-called "smart boulders" revealed some surprising findings that will help inform where best to lay the seafloor cables that keep the internet running. Published this week in the journal Nature Communications, this research shows that submarine avalanches of rock and sand…

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…

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…

International manufacturer Roxtec is helping protect Britain’s new £200m ($265m) polar research vessel - RRS Sir David Attenborough – after supplying a range of specialist safety seals.The new build ship is being funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead and run by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).It will operate in extreme conditions in both Antarctica and the Arctic, enduring up to 60 days in sea-ice for scientists to gather…

In the first of a series of marine industry sector reviews, MR&EN correspondent Tom Mulligan reports on the latest innovations in heavy lifting machinery technology with a selective overview of new product launches and recent equipment installations on board ships, ferries and workboats, as well as in ports, docks, harbors and shipping terminals worldwide. Markey Machinery’s Render/Recover and Asymmetric Render/Recover ‘active heave’ compensating winches have been recognized as…

Rolls-Royce is marking another milestone on the journey toward the completion of Britain’s new polar research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough being built by Merseyside shipyard Cammell Laird. The last of the vessel’s Bergen B33:45 engines/gensets have been craned into the ship’s hull at Cammell Laird ready to be connected to the RRS Sir David Attenborough’s Rolls-Royce propulsion system. The nine cylinder engines are carefully installed in three separate pieces. The first part of the nine cylinder engine to be craned into place was its double resilient foundation.

The new $180 million polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough currently under construction at the Cammell Laird Birkenhead shipyard in the Port of Liverpool City Region, U.K. is slated to be equipped with FarSounder's longest range sonar system, the FarSounder-1000. The new, state-of-the-art ship, owned by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), will enable scientists to explore and undertake science in new areas of the Antarctic and Arctic seas. With the vessel’s ability to embark on longer voyages and explore some of the most remote aquatic regions of the world…

Saft will supply two specialized Seanergy marine lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery systems to Rolls-Royce Marine for integration in the hybrid propulsion systems for the polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough. The new vessel, one of the most advanced ever, is being commissioned by the U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for operation by the British Antarctic Survey. The contract follows an earlier Rolls-Royce Marine contract for a hybrid multi-application vessel for Kystverket, the Norwegian Coastal Administration.

Cammell Laird shipyard informs it has reached the nine-month milestone in its project to build the U.K.’s new polar research ship the RRS Sir David Attenborough. The Merseyside-based engineering services giant beat off competition from around the world to be appointed to build the £15 0million vessel. The ship, which is the biggest commercial shipbuilding project in Britain for 30 years, has been commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and it will be operated by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), transforming the U.K.’s polar research capability.

Though the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council decided not to name its state-of-the-art polar research ship Boaty McBoatface (instead opting to name the ship David Attenborough, and calling its remotely operated undersea vehicle Boaty McBoatface), the name lives on. Another Boaty McBoatface will set sail virtually from Southampton today thanks to an initiative from international maritime charity Sailors’ Society and vessel tracking website MarineTraffic. The virtual Boaty will visit locations where Sailors’ Society has port chaplains and ship visitors…

Vard Holdings Limited's subsidiary Vard Electro AS has secured a contract for the delivery of an engineering and electrical installation package for U.K.’s new $290 million polar research vessel under construction for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Vard’s contract signed with Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Ltd includes engineering resources to support the shipyard in the drawing approval process, complete electro installation onboard, and systems and products developed by Vard Electro. The value of the contract is nearly $12 million. Expected to become operational in 2019, the 130-meter-long polar research vessel will be named RRS David Attenborough and will be equipped with VARD’s SeaQ Communications system…

U.K. shipbuilder Cammell Laird held one of the largest ceremonies in its history when Sir David Attenborough joined more than 1,000 people for the keel laying of the new £150 million polar research vessel. Construction was officially started by the world-renowned naturalist and broadcaster, after whom the ship is named, at the ceremonial event at Cammell Laird’s famous Birkenhead site in Liverpool City Region. Sir David started the keel laying process by initiating the lifting by crane of the first hull unit on to the construction berth.