Weather conditions are favourable for the scuttling of an relic from the 2005 Peter Jackson film King Kong on Tuesday in Cook Strait.
Ownership of the abandoned Venture II transferred to Wellington Regional Council, after its last owner was put into liquidation.
The ship has been moored at Miramar wharf for the past five years and is to be sunk in an explosives dumping ground off Cape Palliser at a cost of $30,000.
Wellington harbourmaster Mike Pryce says the ship's valves will shortly be opened to allow water inside.