TSS Earnslaw will return to service next Monday after six weeks of TLC.
The vintage steamship was lowered into the Frankton Arm yesterday after six weeks of maintenance at its Kelvin Peninsula slipway.
A section of the 103-year-old vessel's hull plating and framing around the propeller area has been replaced, as have the pistons, cylinders and rings on both engines.
Real Journeys spokeswoman Tsehai Tiffin said the 330-tonne vessel was towed to its berth at Steamer Wharf in Queenstown by two other company vessels, because its custom-made pistons still needed adjusting.
Project engineer Drew Bryant said the survey had uncovered ''no major surprises''.
Two Fiordlander vessels have been plying the Walter Peak Station route in Earnslaw's absence.
