A refurbished catamaran departed Dunedin yesterday to return to work in Milford Sound.
Southern Discoveries' flagship vessel, Pride of Milford, left the Kitchener Wharf about noon yesterday after a six-week Dunedin stay.
Sea-lutions Ltd owner Stu Hansen said he was one of the contractors who worked on the 34m vessel in Dunedin during its two-yearly survey.
The vessel departed for Milford Sound yesterday to resume its scenic cruises, he said.
In Dunedin, the 12-year-old vessel was on the slipway for a week for work including checking valves and fittings on the keel, he said.
As well as routine maintenance, refurbishments, including installing new heat pumps and dish-washing facilities and extending the VIP lounge, were also completed.
The VIP lounge was extended so it could accommodate 50 passengers - a full tour bus.
The vessel's home port was Bluff, but the work was done in Dunedin because of difficulty accessing a Bluff syncrolift, a system for lifting boats out of the water for maintenance work.
The boat's next survey was expected to be done in Bluff because it would include a full repaint, Mr Hansen said.
''A massive undertaking and some serious coin,'' he said.
As the repaint was a big task, getting the boat to the syncrolift would be worth the risk, he said.
The boat was built to order in Perth at a cost of $6 million, he said.
Southern Discoveries is owned by the Skeggs family, of Dunedin.
