The Royal Research Ship RRS Sir David Attenborough, has been flagged to the Falkland Islands and officially named in a ceremony at Birkenhead, near Liverpool on Thursday September 26.
An £8.15 million contract to build a new wharf at the remote Sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia is awarded to BAM Nuttall this week. The contract is part of a major investment programme to modernize the UK’s Antarctic infrastructure.
UK government plans to merge the British Antarctic Survey with the National Oceanography Centre have triggered global debate among scientists and politicians with former US Vice-president Al Gore wading into the discussion and fears in the Falkland Islands of a diminished “British presence” in the region.
Data collected by Royal Navy vessels, as part of standard operations, is set to provide clues on Arctic climate change. Little is known about the areas of water underneath the Arctic ice, as sensors are difficult to place for long term deployment. Now UK environmental researchers are to be presented with previously unavailable information provided by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).