Soundgarden Get A Research Vessel Named After Them, Turn Up For Its Maiden Voyage

Soundgarden have been immortalised in ship form.

The grunge rock pioneers have been honoured by US environmental scientists, who’ve named their shiny new research vessel after the iconic band.

The ingeniously-dubbed RV SoundGuardian was christened this week during a special ceremony in Washington’s Kings County, which saw band members Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil both attend.

“We’ve won Grammys and a few awards through the years, but this is a real special one because it’s tied into our city and the culture that we have here,” said Cameron (via Ultimate Guitar). “So we’re very proud to be a part of it. We love the natural resources here and are in tune with keeping our environment safe and this vessel will certainly help out in this endeavour.”

Thayil added: “And there’s a strong sense of pride and honour with the civic mission. These are issues that are obviously of concern, especially if you have kids. There’s a strong sense of civic pride in regards to Seattle and the Northwest.”

Sadly, Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd were unable to make the voyage, but the day was hardly outshined by their absence.

The silver, industrial-looking ship will now set sail into the Superunknown (or you know, the Puget Sound) to monitor water quality and take on environmental emergency calls.

It will undoubtedly also be manned by Deckhands All Over, while scientists will aim to keep pollution off its waves and Live To Rise biodiversity levels.

Let’s just hope no one tries to blast Let Me Drown on board.

Catch footage and snapshots of the SoundGuardian’s maiden voyage below.