Otago ships on stamps

Two of Otago's pioneering ships will appear on postage stamps next month, to pay tribute to the significant role they played in shaping New Zealand.

Vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw will appear on New Zealand Post's $1.90 stamp and historic sailing ship Dunedin will appear on the $2.40 stamp.

Earnslaw, or Lady of the Lake as it is widely known, began as a passenger, freight and livestock carrier 100 years ago, linking the isolated farms and settlements of Lake Wakatipu.

It was designed and built in Dunedin and assembled at the lakeside in 1912.

New Zealand Post stamps sales and marketing manager Simon Allison said Earnslaw remained a popular tourist attraction in Central Otago and was the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere.

Dunedin was the first ship to complete a successful transport of refrigerated meat, which helped to set the stage for New Zealand's success in agricultural exports.

Originally used to transport settlers to New Zealand, it was refitted with a refrigeration machine in 1881.

During a fateful voyage from Oamaru to London in 1890, the ship vanished with all its 35 crew.

It is thought the ship may have hit an iceberg.

Mr Allison said this year marked the 130th anniversary of the ship's first shipment of frozen meat between New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The stamps would be released as part of the Great Voyages of New Zealand stamp issue and would be available from September 5, he said.