Stricken cargo ship the Shiling has made it safely back to Wellington, after losing power and issuing a mayday call off the South Island coast.
It will remain in the capital while its engine failures are investigated and fixed.
A tiny tug boat with a ginormous job, towing the nearly 300-metre-long Shiling through the Cook Strait for 24 hours.
Its return to Wellington required a team of experts on board and on the ground to guide the powerless ship safely into port.
Wellington Harbourmaster Grant Nalder told Newshub "a lot of planning" went into getting the Shiling back to Wellington.
The Shiling first broke down near the capital in April, then again a month later stranding 22 nautical miles off Farewell Spit, where it rolled in rough seas, forcing the captain to make a mayday call.
"They were in a bit of trouble because they didn't have that propulsion so they were basically stranded out at sea," said Maritime New Zealand incident controller Kenny Crawford.
A large offshore tug from Taranaki came to the rescue and officials say it's the third time in 12 months a high-powered ocean tug's been required but hasn't been nearby, sparking discussion about whether more are needed.
"We've been working at speed on this, it's something we're making a priority as well to give options to do this," said Crawford.
Most of the ship's containers are empty, with about 250 having exports like scrap metal, Fonterra dairy products and frozen meat still onboard.
"Delays caused by any shipping problems can result in significant difficulty for both exporter and importer," said chief executive of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation New Zealand Rosemarie Dawson.
There'll be two investigations into the ship's engine problems, one by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, and the other by Maritime NZ, and there'll have to be some serious repairs before the Shiling can leave the harbour again
"The Singaporean authorities are taking this very seriously, they are sending an investigator to Wellington as well to investigate this," Crawford told Newshub.
It could be weeks until the Shiling is fixed and ready to return to Singapore.
