Cattle ship breaks down in Vic

A large cattle ship with thousands of cows on board is anchored in Port Phillip Bay in Victoria after breaking down.

The Girolando Express will return to Geelong Port on Friday after mechanical repairs were taken out on the vessel - which has been anchored six kilometres off the coast of Port Arlington for the last three days.

Geelong Harbour Master Captain Dilip Abraham told AAP there are no animal welfare concerns for the 3500 breeding cattle on board.

The ship will return to Geelong on Friday morning to stock up on feed before leaving for the three week journey to China.