Belfast Lough welcomed the RRS Sir David Attenborough for the first time this past weekend for a crew change.
And its Captain Matt Neill, from Magilligan near Coleraine, told the Belfast Telegraph was “made up” to bring the ship to Northern Ireland.
The £200 million vessel has been conducting scientific trials en route to Belfast from Macduff in eastern Scotland, ahead of a planned Antarctic mission later this year.
While a public poll to name the research ship resulted in a top vote for ‘Boaty McBoatface’, that irreverent moniker was instead given to one of its robotic submersibles.
The Belfast Telegraph has more on the story HERE.