Interislander ferry the Kaitaki, which departed Wellington for Picton at 8.30pm on Wednesday night, returned to the city and was anchored in the harbour after developing issues with its steering just outside of the Wellington heads.
It retained full steering control, via backup systems.
An Interislander spokesperson told RNZ to ensure safety the ships' master decided it would not berth in Wellington without help from tugs boats, which weren't available until around 7am on Thursday.
"Kaitaki is now at the berth. Engineers are working to fix the issue and there will be delays to some sailings today as a result.
"The Interislander has apologised to the passengers for this disruption and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as we can."
