High winds and a critical time schedule revolving around tides led to the cruise liner Dawn Princess bypassing Napier yesterday.
The 77,500-tonne ship with 195 passengers aboard had been scheduled to tie up at Napier Port just before 6am - and was set to be the first of three liners arriving over three days.
But Napier Port senior pilot Captain Trevor Morrison said the captain of the liner had been concerned over reports of high westerly winds sweeping the Bay as well as possible rising southwesterly winds later in the day.
Wind gusts of up to 76km/h were recorded at Hawke's Bay Airport in the early morning.
He was also aware that the ship needed to stick closely to its scheduled 2pm departure time to keep to the tide schedule for its next destination, Tauranga.