Australian Ferry to Be Named ‘Ferry McFerryface’ Because ‘Boaty McBoatface’ Was Taken
We assume Prime Minister Aussie McAussieface will christen the vessel soon.
A new ferry soon to be traversing the harbor of Sydney, Australia will bear the formal name of "Ferry McFerryface" upon its prow, according to government officials, because the first choice for a name was already taken by another maritime vessel. That original choice, of course: Boaty McBoatface.
The New South Wales Public Transport department announced the new name Sunday on Facebook, along with a drawing of the new catamaran ferry that's oddly reminiscent of the Canadian citizens on South Park.
Ferry McFerryface was the runner-up in an online contest to name the boat, the sixth of a new series designed to zip around the massive drowned river valley that sits at the heart of Australia's largest city. (The other five vessels will be named after well-known local Aboriginal residents and Australian doctors.)
"Given ’Boaty’ was already taken by another vessel, we’ve gone with the next most popular name nominated by Sydneysiders," Andrew Constance, the New South Wales Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, said in a statement, according to The Telegraph. "Ferry McFerryface will be the harbor’s newest icon and I hope it brings a smile to the faces of visitors and locals alike."
However, some visitors and locals apparentlydidn't find it all that amusing. The NSW Public Transport department was forced to defend the decision—or at least prove it more than an oddly-timed prank—on its Facebook page.
The first choice name was discarded not due to ridiculousness—after all, that would probably have pushed "Ferry McFerryface" out of the running—but because, as loyal readers of The Drive might recall, "Boaty McBoatface" is already taken. When people used an online poll tried to have the name slapped onto the British National Environment Research Council's new $290 million arctic research vessel, the group overruled the unwashed digital masses and named it after famous naturalist David "My brother is the guy from Jurassic Park, stop asking me to say 'Spared No Expense'" Attenborough; however, the group threw the Internet a bone by slapping the moniker on an unmanned submarine, instead.
However, the "Blanky McBlankface" naming trend quickly caught on in the wake of the poll. As such, Ferry McFerryface joins such notably-named forms of transportation as Australian race horse Horsey McHorseface and Swedish passenger train Trainy McTrainface.
