HistoryQueenstownThursday, 1 January 2026
The TSS Earnslaw launched the same year as the Titanic — and still sails daily
Queenstown's coal-fired steamship has criss-crossed Lake Wakatipu since 1912, making it one of the oldest working passenger steamships in the southern hemisphere.
The 'Lady of the Lake' was prefabricated in Dunedin, carried to Kingston by rail in pieces, and reassembled on the lakeshore — entering service in October 1912, six months after the Titanic sank.
More than a century later she still burns around a tonne of coal an hour on daily cruises to Walter Peak Station, and you can stand over the open engine room and watch the stokers work. She is one of the last coal-fired passenger steamships operating anywhere in the world.
Quick answers
- How old is the TSS Earnslaw?
- The TSS Earnslaw entered service on Lake Wakatipu in 1912 — the same year the Titanic sank — and still runs daily cruises from Queenstown, making it one of the oldest working coal-fired passenger steamships in the southern hemisphere.
Sources
- The TSS Earnslaw entered service in 1912 and still operates daily on Lake Wakatipu. [source]