Planning around the timing and the voyage for the tow of the stricken Shiling to Wellington is ongoing.

The vessel lost power and steering on Friday 12 May, and has been anchored at Tasman Bay since Saturday 13 May.

An ocean going tug, the Skandi Emerald towed it from where it initially lost power (22 nautical miles North North-West of Farewell Spit), to its current anchorage point.

Once a passage and towing plan has been confirmed, the Skandi Emerald will tow the Shiling to Wellington, timings around the departure and arrival at Wellington’s CentrePort are weather dependent.

These plans are developed by the Shiling and Skandi Emerald . Maritime NZ has oversight.

Incident Controller David Billington says Maritime NZ’s priority is ensuring the towage of the vessel from Tasman Bay to Wellington is undertaken as safely as possible.

A crew change for the Skandi Emerald will occur today (17 May), while supplies will be transported to the Shiling as well.

This change over requires the Skandi Emerald to come closer to shore to enable the crew swap.

"A towage expert will also be boarding the Shiling later this afternoon (17 May) to support the connection between the two vessels, the tow plan and the voyage to Wellington.

"They will be taken to the vessel by the Skandi Emerald ," David Billington says.

CentrePort and the Wellington Harbourmaster are being kept up to date with the plans for the Shiling .

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