It doesn't have propulsion of its own and needs to be towed everywhere; is it technically a ship? Seems more like a fancy barge or platform.
Very cool in any case, I'm glad it's been saved.
Wikipedia calls it "open ocean research platform" which seems more appropriate, agree. But it doesn't rhyme as nicely as "Flipping FLIP ship" so I understand the author took a bit of liberty in the title, at least they explain what FLIP stands for ("FLoating Instrument Platform") which makes it pretty clear if it's a ship or platform :)