The sailing waka Te Matau a Maui faces a rough ride back to Napier after its protest mission.

An ocean-sailing waka on a protest mission off the East Coast is likely to face rough conditions as it returns home on Monday night.

But the trust that runs the double-hulled waka says it has no concerns for the safety of the 17 crew on board as they battle stormy weather on their trip back to Napier.

The 22-metre waka Te Matau a Maui left its home port of Napier on Saturday on a mission to deliver a "face-to-face" message to the Amazon Warrior, the world's largest seismic blasting ship, which is carrying out prospecting work for oil companies Statoil and Chevron about 200 kilometres off the Hawke's Bay coast.

GREENPEACE Te Matau a Maui intercepted the Amazon Warrior, the world's largest seismic survey ship, about 200km off the Hawke's Bay coast on Monday.

Te Matau a Maui Voyaging Trust general manager Wayne MacGillivray said the waka intercepted the ship and delivered the message by radio that it was not welcome in local waters on Monday morning.

READ MORE:

* Drenching for many from remnants of cyclone Debbie

* Waka arrives at Rapaki after week-long journey

* Waka's difficult journey into Wellington Harbour

* New Greenpeace vessel set to confront seismic blasting ship

* NZ anti-oil haka being watched around the world

* Protests at New Plymouth petroleum conference

Te Matau a Maui had not breached a 500-metre exclusion zone in place around the ship, MacGillivray said.

CHRIS SKELTON/FAIRFAX NZ "Stability is not a problem" for Te Matau a Maui, general manager Wayne MacGillivray says, and there are no concerns for its crew as they head home.

The waka was returning to Napier on Monday afternoon and was expected to arrive at about 6am on Tuesday.

﻿

MacGillivray said that, when he contacted the waka about 11am, captain Deon Wong was expecting 8-12 knot winds on the return journey, but conditions were likely to worsen as much of the country endures stormy conditions whipped up by the remnants of cyclone Debbie.

MacGillivray said there were no concerns for the crew on the double-hulled waka, which was designed for, and well experienced in, ocean sailing conditions.

"Stability is not a problem, that's for sure," he said.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace's new protest vessel Taitu arrived in Napier on Monday, where it would wait out the bad weather.

A spokeswoman said the Taitu also wanted to intercept the Amazon Warrior but the vessel's plans would depend on the weather over the next few days.