Interisland ferry passengers are again facing travel interruptions after heavy seas and strong winds have cancelled some sailings.
On Wednesday 61 passengers were stranded on board the Arahura, which broke down in Wellington Harbour.
Sailings were cancelled while the fault was fixed and passengers were transferred to a different ferry.
All ferries were operating today, but heavy swells and strong winds in Cook Strait last night delayed the Aratere's overnight sailings, which meant the ship was running behind schedule, the company said.
The Aratere's 6.45am freight only sailing tomorrow morning from Wellington and return sailing at 10.45am from Picton would be cancelled.
The cancellations allowed the ship to get back into her usual time slots in time for tomorrow afternoon and Monday sailings, and was routine practise in situations such as these, Interislanders' acting general manager Ross Allen said.
Bookings for both cancelled services were very light and all freight and passengers had been transferred to the Kaitaki.
The Kaitaki had a scheduled maintenance lay-day on Monday, so only the Arahura and Aratere would operate on Monday, Mr Allen said.
The company was frustrated with recent problems with the Arahura and delays, but was committed to providing a reliable, regular service across Cook Strait, he said.
"We understand the frustrations of customers, and nobody is more disappointed than we are.
"All our ships are constantly undergoing maintenance to ensure they are as reliable as possible and the chances of failure are minimised.
"They have significant redundancies built in, and the engineering crews work around the clock to service and maintain systems on board all our ships."
