Pacific Sky to sail next week, says P&O

P&O Cruises says repairs to its cruise ship Pacific Sky at the Devonport Naval Dockyard in Auckland should be completed in time for the ship to sail next Wednesday.

"We are on track to finalise the repairs comfortably before the next scheduled cruise departure on Wednesday April 2," P&O Cruises managing director Gavin Smith said.

"Whilst the repairs are localised, it has been necessary to remove sections of the outer hull to access the internal down flooding ducts that needed heavy steel plating replacement. Coffer Dams have been fabricated at the Devonport yard and attached to the ship. These enable the cutting and welding to take place in a watertight environment."

"The work is being done by Babcock's Devonport Yard work force, P&O's own engineers and the specialist cruise ship tradesmen we have flown in from Europe and North America. This is being supervised by P&O Princess Cruises most senior technical team from Los Angeles," Mr Smith said.

He said the work was being conducted to the satisfaction of the classification society Lloyd's Register of Shipping, and monitored by the New Zealand Maritime Safety Authority.

Once the repairs are completed, Lloyd's and MSA will carry out a final inspection before the ship leaves Auckland.

The vessel was forced to return to port this month after taking water while on its way to Tonga.

A subsequent cruise, which was to have started from Auckland last weekend, was cancelled.

Passengers were given full refunds and were offered a discount on another Pacific Sky cruise.

Mr Smith said passengers booked on the next cruise to Tonga, Samoa and Fiji departing April 2 could receive updates by visiting the company's website.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine