The Spirit of New Zealand is set to receive a much needed make over. Spending an average of 340 days every year travelling the world and promoting New Zealand, it has gotten a few nicks.

Since the launch in 1986, there have been many dangerous journeys. The original Gardner diesel couldn’t move the ship faster than four knots into a head wind.

The trust who owns the ship has decided to give it a do over so it can last until at least 2020.

The Spirit of New Zealand has been fitted with a new Yanmar 6AYM-STE engine which is rated at 490kW at 1900rpm. This has boosted its top speed to 12.8 knots and the cruising speed to 10 knots.  Despite the speed increase, the fuel consumption is lower than before.

The ship is also able to visit more exotic locations with the new air conditioning installed. The Spirit of New Zealand is now back at her home port in Auckland and will be sailing around the Hauraki Gulf.