Forget Trump, forget Wimbledon, forget the World Cup Final…the big event of mid-July was without doubt the celebratory launch of RRS Sir David Attenborough into the River Mersey.
The new ship was commissioned by the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) and built by Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Ltd to a Rolls-Royce design. The RRS Sir David Attenborough will be operated by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) when the ship enters service in 2019.
Once Sir David Attenborough and British Antarctic Survey Director Prof Dame Jane Francis pushed the launch button, the vessel’s splendid red hull glided sublimely down the Cammell Laird slipway and onto the high tide. At 12.25 pm on Saturday 14th July, our team of camera operators, sound technicians and vision mixers sent stunning live images to news channels and broadcasters across the world.
The new ship was commissioned by the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) and built by Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Ltd to a Rolls-Royce design. The RRS Sir David Attenborough will be operated by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) when the ship enters service in 2019.
We’ve been working with Cammell Laird for over 25 years, providing a wealth of creative services for a vast number of events and projects. Following on from the successful Keel Laying Ceremony in October 2016, the Mills production team went into action in early 2018 to start planning how the ship’s launch would be delivered.
At 129 metres long by 24 metres wide and with a 10,000-tonne hull, this would be no straightforward event. The ship itself naturally offered the ideal backdrop to our stage set up whilst grandstand seating for 300 VIP guests was designed to offer the perfect viewing opportunity. Cammell Laird’s extensive family of staff and friends was also invited to attend the big day, so to enhance their enjoyment we installed three large outdoor screens across the shipyard, each with extensive PA audio systems. We also produced a series of dynamic short films for the audience to gain insight into Cammell Laird’s history (RRS Sir David Attenborough is hull no.1390) and to see how the polar vessel has been constructed over the past 18 months.
Once the big green button was pushed, our camera team took over and their enviable locations on land and in the air, presented the cheering crowds with a selection of stunning shots of RRS Sir David Attenborough’s historic launch.
Now residing in the wet basin at Cammell Laird shipyard, the 535-tonne superstructure which forms the six upper decks, was connected to the hull on July 17th. Blasting, painting and propeller fitting will be undertaken later in the summer once she is moved into dry dock and the official naming ceremony of RRS Sir David Attenborough is expected to take place later in the year.
The spectacular launch of the state-of-the-art research vessel was featured in over 800 news stories around the world! This success is entirely due to the amazing collaborative efforts of Cammell Laird, BAS, NERC and Mills Media Creative.
We are proud to be associated with such an illustrious project and are sure that people will look back on Saturday 14th July 2018 as a very special and unique day in UK maritime history.