British Research Vessel Could Be Named ‘Boaty McBoatface’ After Open Naming Poll Backfires

The National Environment Research Agency (NERC) decided last week in it’s infinite wisdom to entrust the naming of its new Antarctic research vessel to the British Public.

In a spectacular backfire for the organisation, the public overwhelmingly voted for the name Boaty McBoatface. The agency’s website then promptly crashed.

At the time that the website crashed, Boaty McBoatface was more than 13 thousand votes in front of the second most popular suggestion.

The suggested name for the  £200 millon vessel was suggested by James Hand, who has now admitted that the whole thing has gotten a little out of hand especially since @BoatyMcBoatface began its own Twitter account.

Boaty himself? He seems to be pretty happy with his new name. 

The NERC website does state that the poll was for suggestions only, and reserves the right to name the boat whatever they want. They initially asked for the names suggested to be inspirational, such as a historical figure, landmark or movement.

Other names in the top 15 suggestions included Boat, Pingu, It’s bloody cold here and Ice Ice Baby.

What a time. 

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