New Zealand authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a man who sailed across the Tasman Sea to Australia with his six-year-old daughter late last year.

Alan Langdon, 49, failed to appear in a New Zealand court to face charges of taking his daughter out of the country while Family Court proceedings were underway.

Mr Langdon said he was still in Australia dealing with quarantine procedures for his boat and did not have the money to return home.

On January 11, Mr Langdon arrived at Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast with his daughter, Que, after spending three weeks at sea.

Soon after, a child recovery agency hired by the child’s mother Ariane Wyler, said the pair were reunited in New South Wales.

The mother and daughter have since returned to New Zealand.

In his defence, Mr Langdon has said he was forced to cross the notoriously rough Tasman with his daughter after their rudder broke on a local trip to New Zealand’s Bay of Islands for Christmas.

Mr Langdon said sailing to Australia was the safest option and his daughter was in no danger during the voyage.

However, Australian child recovery expert Col Chapman has previously said it was the second time he had been hired by Ms Wyler to look for the pair.

The six-metre catamaran that Alan Langdon and his daughter sailed to Australia on. Photo: ABC

Mr Chapman said he had also found the pair living in rural New Zealand more than a year ago.

Earlier this month, New Zealand police initiated court proceedings under the Care of Children Act against Mr Langdon, and said that he was due in Te Awamutu District Court on January 25.

Mr Langdon left New Zealand with his daughter on December 17.

-ABC