Two members of the crew of the polar research ship will become the first same-sex couple to marry in the British Antarctic.
Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter hope to get married on Monday, although this may be delayed due to time.
Bourne and Carpenter have been together for 20 years. They are working on the Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough, one of the most advanced polar research ships in the world, which is dangerously and memorablely close to being called the RSS Boaty McBoatface.
The wedding will be performed by boat captain Will Watley at the main research station of the British Antarctic Research in Rother on the island of Adelaide, a place shared with numerous Adele penguins and Wedel seals.
The two are experienced sailors and have traveled the world together on various ships.
Carpenter said: “Antarctica is such an amazing place. We’ve been together for 20 years, but now we’re both together in Antarctica, we felt like the perfect place to finally tie the knot! We have even engraved the coordinates of the wedding venue in our rings.
Bourne said they were both very proud to be first. “BAS is such a friendly and hospitable employer and we feel very happy to be able to live and work in such an amazing community and place together.”
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences said that the couple’s big day “will mark a historic step for diversity and inclusion in the polar sciences.”
We are pleased to wish good luck to Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter of BAS at their upcoming wedding, which will be the first same-sex marriage in the British Antarctic. Their big day will mark a historic step for diversity and inclusion in the polar sciences ❄️🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/qOr7Jn9lOR
– British Antarctic Survey (@BAS_News) 21 April 2022
The marriage will be registered with the Government of the British Antarctic Territory (BAT), based in the Foreign Office, and the marriage will be valid in the United Kingdom.
This is the second marriage between BAS employees since the BAT Act was amended in 2016 to facilitate such events.
The ceremony is to be attended by Sir David Attenborough’s 30th RRS crew, followed by a reception with about 100 researchers from the research station. The food will be prepared by the chef of the station, and the resident group of the facility will provide the music.
RRS Sir David Attenborough is a £ 200 million research vessel that is part of a mission to investigate whether warm waters are melting the Antarctic glaciers and ice sheets below. It has a unique “moon pool”, a vertical shaft of 4 square meters, which passes right through the ship.
The boat was launched by Mercy in Birkenhead in 2018 by Attenborough himself, who said the name was “the biggest award”.
Prior to the launch, a public consultation was conducted to determine the name. More than 32,000 names were suggested, including “It’s Bloody Cold Here,” “I like big boats and I can’t lie,” and “What iceberg?”
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Particularly striking was the name Boaty McBoatface, proposed by former BBC radio host James Hand. He won 124,109 votes and 33% of the total votes, the largest so far. But given that the boat is “a serious scientific ship that requires the name of a serious scientist”, the vote was canceled. Instead, Sir David Attenborough’s small but very advanced yellow submarine was named Boaty McBoatface.
The weather forecast for Rother on Monday is at -2C (28F), and it will feel like -7C, the Meteorological Service announced. The couple said they were planning a second holiday for family and friends, this time in Spain.
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