The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs says a Fiji cargo ship, holding 450,000 litres of fresh water, is scheduled to sail to drought stricken Tuvalu today.
The ship is expected to arrive in Funafuti late in the weekend or early next week.
Meanwhile, the large Tuvalu desalination unit, which can produce 40,000 litres of water a day, has been shut down for repair.
Spare parts for the unit have arrived from Japan.
With the support of a number of desalination units, the New Zealand ministry estimates more than one and half million litres of water is now stored in Tuvalu government and council water tanks in Funafuti.
Red Cross desalination units on Nukulaelae are producing just over 3,000 litres of water a day.
The New Zealand Defence Force has two desalination units which are producing 80,000 litres each day
