The container ship Vega Auriga is expected to remain at the Mount Maunganui wharf until next week, according to owner's agent Belinda Snell at Nautilus Shipping.

The ship, which made media headlines when it arrived in Tauranga last month after being banned from Australian ports, has clocked up seven departure date cancellations.

The Vega Auriga.

Formerly under Mediterranean Shipping Company hire, the ship effectively lost its job when it was barred from Australian ports in August.

Its cargo was discharged at Sulphur Point upon arrival on August 31. Defects found during a Maritime NZ safety inspection have been repaired and the ship is now seeking work.

'They are doing a little bit more work on the ship but the owners are just trying to establish what her next voyage will be,” says Belinda today.

'I think it will probably push out into early next week. The owners are based in Germany and the time difference means we hear something from them, and by the time we come back it's another day gone.

'It makes it more difficult to action things.”

The owners are Hamburg-based Vega Reederei GmbH, a fleet operator with 40 ships on its books. The ship is Liberian registered and has a Filipino crew.

When the Australian Maritime Safety Authority banned the ship from Australian ports for three months in August, the Vega Auriga was on time charter to MSC on its Australia, Noumea, New Zealand routes.

The Australian ban was based on recurring safety issues arising from lack of maintenance of the ship, and the crew not being paid.

Unpaid crew is a factor the Australian authority can take into account under the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, which New Zealand has not yet ratified.

The New Zealand port state inspection at Tauranga focussed on safety issues. An inspection found 11 faults that had to be rectified before the ship could return to sea. This was done last week, and the ship re-fuelled.