The RRS Sir David Attenborough (SDA) is getting ready for its next round of sea trials. This is an important part of the preparations for the ship’s first Antarctic mission. The ship has been in dry dock at Cammell Laird shipyard since March to enable engineers to carry out technical fixes and refinements identified during the first round of trials, as well as commissioning new scientific equipment in the ship’s hull and laboratories. 

The SDA is operated by two crews who alternate every two and a half months. A change of crew will ensure that all SDA mariners are able to complete onboard training and gain experience in operating the state-of-the-art ship before the ship begins her first mission.

The RRS Sir David Attenborough has state-of-the-art acoustic systems to map and create images of the depth and shape of large areas of the seafloor. Nine scientific winches, with a combined 61,000m of cable, are used to deploy scientific equipment to investigate the Southern Ocean’s unique ecosystems.

Captained by John Harper, the SDA will carry out Harbor Acceptance trials on acoustic systems and ship trials around the local Merseyside area and then return to the shipyard for inspection and technical reviews. This will be followed by Sea Acceptance trials on some winches and training en route to the ship’s home port of Harwich. The ship will then sail to a specialist shipyard in Denmark for final technical checks and fitting out in readiness for the mission to Antarctica.

Captain Harper said, “The SDA is an incredible piece of engineering. There are literally thousands of pieces of equipment, electrical cabling, and science gear that need to be commissioned and tested. Both crews need to be thoroughly familiar and trained to operate the ship in calm and rough seas. The excitement is mounting as we approach the time when the ship will be fully operational and ready for polar missions.”

To learn more about the RRS Sir David Attenborough please visit its operational facilities page.