Britain's Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) took the Internet by storm with its online poll on naming the new Royal Research Ship. RRS Boaty Mcboatface tops the public poll after officially closing the Internet voting, but it is unlikely that the $280 million ship will be christened with this name.
As the UK's most advanced and largest research ship publicized its creation, NERC also took advantage of placing an Internet poll on naming the state-of-the-art ship. This encouraged people to participate and create an inspirational title that could embody the purpose of the ship.
On April 16, the voting poll has closed winning the name RRS Boaty McBoatface by 124,109, miles ahead of its rival Poppy-Mai.
But even if the public poll resulted in a majority vote on RRS Boaty McBoatface, the decision of placing the name on the research ship still lies in the hands of Science Minister Jo Johnson.
Unfortunately, Johnson flagged that ministers will unlikely endorse the result of the online poll.
"You won't be surprised to know that we want something that fits the mission and captures the spirit of scientific endeavor. I am grateful to everyone who has participated in the competition," said Jo Johnson on The Daily Telegraph.
He added that the public's suggestions will be reviewed and they will soon come up with a decision on what to name the vessel.
The name Boaty McBoatface was suggested by former BBC Radio jersey presenter James Hand, who apologized when this name topped the public interest on naming the new research ship.
Hands tweeted that the storm brought by Boaty McBoatface "had legs of its own."
The Poll
RRS Boaty McBoat tops the poll by 124,109, followed by 34,371 votes of RRS Potty Mai which was named after the 16-month-old girl whose father gave her the wedding of her dreams by marrying her after knowing that she's diagnosed with incurable cancer.
The third place was RRS Henry Worsley named after the explorer who went solo crossing in the Antarctic without assistance, with 15,231 votes.
RRS It's Bloody Cold Here ranked fourth with 10,679 votes and RRS David Attenborough landed on fifth garnering 10,284 votes.
Other suggestions were RRS Onion Knight, RRS Bowie, RRS I Like Big Boats and I Cannot Lie, and RRS Kanye West.
NERC received almost 7,000 entries within one month polling period and they thanked everyone who participated.
Let us just wait on what will be the final research ship's name.
