The Sir David Attenborough

Now sitting at Liverpool's cruise terminal- displaying a touch of irony- having crossed the Mesey after its final fitting at Cammel Lairds shipyard in Birkenhead. Itbis owned by the Natural Environmental Research Council and will be operated by the British Antarctic Survey. It is due to be based in Holyhead, but is presently awaiting permission to dock in Wales, which is of course subject to Covid restrictions.
This polar research ship cost £200 million and will no doubt cost a substantial amount to run, both in cash and environmental terms. I am feeling slightly ambivalent about it, but can only hope that these costs will be far outweighed by the impact that the research has upon environmental change.