Lieutenant-commander Simon Griffiths is the commanding officer of HMNZS Wellington.
Educated at Gore High School and Otago Boys' High School, Lt-cmdr Griffiths (36) joined the Royal New Zealand Navy as a midshipman in January 1992.
He has held various roles, including bridge watchkeeper and navigating officer, aboard vessels on numerous deployments in the South Pacific, Australia and Southeast Asia.
He was awarded a Chief of Navy commendation for his work as the navy's navigation training officer and, after completing the NZ Defence College Command and Staff Course in December, took command of Wellington.
He lives in Devonport with his wife, Suzy, and their two young children.
The 85m offshore patrol ship is at least two years' late and struck engine trouble after it left the Melbourne yard last week.
The ship diverted to Sydney, where faults in both engines were fixed, and it sailed from there but had to return when one of the faults recurred.
The faults were repaired under warranty and the ship is due to dock at Devonport Naval Base in Auckland shortly before noon.
On docking, the ship will be greeted by chief of defence force Lieutenant-general Jerry Mateparae and deputy chief of navy Commodore Bruce Pepperell.
The 1900-tonne ship is the last of seven new ships ordered by the Labour government under the $500 million Project Protector programme.
The navy has already taken delivery of the multi-role ship HMNZS Canterbury, four inshore patrol vessels and Wellington's sister ship, HMNZS Otago.
