Design & specification
Your brief — cabin count, dive or charter configuration, range, crew quarters — translated into drawings and a written specification.
Own & invest · New build
A phinisi commission fails or succeeds before the keel is laid.
In the contract and the drawings. Roughly USD 800,000 for a well-built 24–30 metre charter-spec vessel from an established Bulukumba yard, rising to USD 6 million and beyond for superyacht-grade.
In short
Three roles, deliberately kept separate: we are the commissioning desk and your representative, the yard builds, and an independent surveyor verifies.
- Traditional shipwrights in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi — the historical home of phinisi construction — working to a contract and specification we manage.
- Anyone quoting a precise price before a specification exists is guessing. A real number requires drawings.
- We will not promise you a charter return. We will arrange the operator conversations before you sign, so the vessel is specified for charter from day one.
Four workstreams
What the build brokerage manages
Contract
Specification fixed in an annex, so cost-overrun claims have to be argued against a document rather than a memory.
Stage inspections
An independent surveyor signs off each milestone before the payment for it is released.
Trials & handover
Sea trials, the defects list, and the documentation that lets the vessel register and work.
2026 budgeting
What each build tier buys
Indicative bands for budgeting, not quotations. Length, timber, interior complexity and the engineering package drive the number.
Charter-ready standard
USD 0.8–1.5M24–30 m
Ironwood and teak hull, four to six guest cabins, standard marine engineering, interior suited to dive and expedition charter.
Luxury charter spec
USD 1.5–3M30–38 m
Naval architect involved, five to seven ensuite cabins, upgraded engineering and electrics, designer interior.
Superyacht grade
USD 3–6M+38–50+ m
Full engineering package, classification-oriented build standards, bespoke joinery and advanced systems.
Design and contracting before the build itself usually take three to six months.
Timeline & payments
Payments follow inspections, not dates
Eighteen to twenty-four months for a charter-standard build; twenty-four to thirty-six for a large luxury vessel, from signed contract to handover.
Because payments are tied to inspected milestones rather than dates, a delay pauses your cash outflow instead of accelerating it.
Who builds it
We do not own shipyards, and we do not claim to
What the group does operate is a marine brand whose construction and design arms manage new builds in Sulawesi and refits across the fleet-operating side of the business. That is operating experience, not a sales relationship.
Timber curing, weather and specification changes are the usual sources of delay. Where genuine change orders arise — owners do change their minds — they are priced and documented rather than absorbed into an argument later.
Before you commission
Questions before commissioning
Start the conversation.
Tell us how you intend to use the vessel and the budget band you are working within. You will get a straight written view on what is achievable, at what cost, and on what timeline — before you commit to anything.