A container ship that put out a mayday call on Friday morning will likely be towed to Wellington, where it has had three previous failures in less than a year.

The Shiling faced difficulty when it lost power 22 nautical miles from Farewell Spit on Friday morning, prompting a mayday call just days after being cleared to sail.

Multiple helicopters and a Defence Force Hercules were sent to the site where the 294-metre vessel was drifting in rolling seas.

The 24 crew members aboard the Shiling had earlier been preparing to abandon ship as it began listing in heavy seas, but as of yesterday afternoon were still unharmed and aboard the vessel.

An ocean-going tug from Port Taranaki, the Skandi Emerald, was dispatched to tow the Shiling, arriving at the scene about 4.30pm on Friday where it remained in place overnight.

The ship was towed by the Skandi Emerald yesterday morning and stayed under its tow overnight at its current location in Tasman Bay.

The Shiling's current position at Tasman Bay where it remains under the towage of the Skandi Emerald. Photo / MarineTraffic.com

The failure is the fourth in less than a year for the Singapore-registered vessel, and comes hot on the heels of an earlier breakdown last month which caused the ship to be detained in Wellington for several weeks.

Nelson Harbour Master Stuart Whitehouse said the Nelson Port had been assisting with the Shiling’s initial anchorage position in Tasman Bay while they made their next arrangements.

 “She’s too large to come into the port at Nelson so we are just helping them out wherever we can,” he said.

Whitehouse said it was possible the vessel would return to Wellington in the near future but details were still being ironed out.

Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter confirmed there had been discussions about the Shiling returning to Wellington, the scene of its previous failure.

“At this stage, it’s too big for the port of Nelson and our port authority, CentrePort has been asked if they have the berthage to accommodate it,” he said.

Ponter says it is unclear at this stage when the Shiling will arrive in Wellington and it’s currently secured to the ocean-going tug.

“Of course conditions have to be right to bring the ship in through the channel, but they’ll make their way in due course,” he said.

After its breakdown in Wellington’s main shipping channel last month, the capital’s harbourmaster said he was “not happy” as it was the third incident involving the same vessel in less than a year.

“This is the third time, which I’m not happy about, and they are looking very carefully at the ship. I understand she hasn’t had any problems in any other New Zealand ports but I’m concerned that this has happened again,” he said.

The Shiling container ship lost power in Wellington's main shipping channel last month. Photo / Daran Ponter

The Shiling had been departing Wellington for Napier on April 15 when it had a power failure on board.

On July 4 last year it also suffered engine failure in Wellington Harbour. Maritime NZ imposed conditions preventing its departure until repairs were carried out.

And on February 11 this year it had a brief engine stoppage in Wellington Harbour.

The Shiling container ship was built in 2005 and is 294.09m long and 32.25m wide.