by Marek Błuś

Over the past few years, Australia, France, and the United Kingdom replaced the ships serving their antarctic scientific stations.

The newcomers are, obviously, more modern, better, bigger, and stronger. The construction thereof also presented national celebration opportunities, especially in Australia and the UK (the same happened with their predecessors).

What counted the most for us, collectors, were the numerous 'philatelic occasions' associated with welcoming the newbuilds as well as bidding the oldies farewell.

Excluding issues outside the three countries and their dependencies, we got 16 stamps to rejoice in!

Download PDF