RSS David Attenborough taking shape as upper decks are added

RSS Attenborough with upper decks in place

The research ship named after broadcaster Sir David Attenborough is rapidly taking shape after her launch on the River Mersey last Saturday.

Following the mid-day launch the RRS Sir David Attenborough was towed to a wet basin on the river for further assembly work to be carried out.

Engineers at Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird have now added the upper decks to the vessel.

Using two large cranes they lowered the superstructure onto the hull, adding a further six decks to the six levels below deck.

Moving the ship to the wet basin

The superstructure holds accommodation areas, the vessel’s bridge and the hangars for her helicopters.

The £200m Attenborough will be used to support British scientists in the Antarctic and the Arctic.

The 129m-long vessel has the ability to push through polar sea-ice up to a metre thick.

The ship will shortly now be moved into dry dock where she will undergo 11 weeks of outfitting, ahead of completion and sea trials by the end of the year.

“The addition of the accommodation block makes this ship 47m high,” said Cammell Laird project director John Drummond.

“A lot of detailed work lies ahead before we can switch her on.”

It is in the dry dock that the ship will also receive her final paint job, including a special coating on the keel that is both low-drag and eco-friendly.

All vessels working in Polar waters now have to meet very strict environmental standards.

Once the outfitting is complete the Attenborough will then return to the wet basin for basic systems checks and an official naming ceremony that is tentatively scheduled for November.

Deep-water sea trials, which should see the Attenborough head up to the Arctic for a thorough work-out, will begin in early 2019.

The ship will be operated by the British Antarctic Survey on behalf of its funding agency, the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc).

The acquisition of the new vessel will complete Nerc’s fleet upgrade programme, which has already seen the introduction of two new “blue-water” research vessels – RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook.

“Five years ago we turned our attention to our old Polar warhorses – the James Clark Ross and the Ernest Shackleton – and took the view that we could combine them into one, and the Attenborough is the result,” explained Nerc chief executive, Prof Duncan Wingham.

“We will get economy whilst also maximising science. Tonne for tonne, Nerc now has the most modern and sophisticated research fleet in the world.”

RSS Attenborough superstructure

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