Occupancy history
Charter nights per season across at least one full high season, preferably two.
Vessel class · Phinisi
Phinisi for sale, sold on the records not the photographs.
Charter-proven Sulawesi schooners with verified earnings, timber surveys by wood specialists and escrow-protected closing. Operating phinisi typically close between USD 500,000 and 3.5 million.
In short
A search for a phinisi returns photographs, a length and a price. The numbers that decide whether the purchase works — occupancy, rates, crew cost, timber condition — rarely appear. This desk will not list a vessel that cannot produce them.
- Nightly rates in the segment we source from run from about USD 5,500 to 50,000.
- Timber hulls need a wood specialist: an ironwood keel behaves nothing like a GRP hull.
- Crew contracts, licences and forward bookings can convey — negotiated per vessel, in writing.
The standard
What “charter-proven” has to produce
A documentation standard, not a sales adjective. We decline vessels that cannot show these.
Rate history
Nightly and full-boat rates achieved, with seasonal variation and agent commissions.
Operating accounts
Crew payroll, fuel, provisioning and maintenance — the cost side, not just revenue.
Licence file
Certification, passenger capacity and the transfer path, checked before marketing.
2026 guidance
Segments and asking ranges
Orientation, not a valuation of any specific vessel. Refit date, engine hours, licence status and the strength of the charter record move every number.
Mid-size luxury
USD 1.5–3.5M30–40 m
Four to six cabins. Nightly rate band USD 5,500–10,000.
Large luxury
USD 3.5M+40–50 m
Six to eight cabins, superyacht-grade fit-out and the top of the rate card.
Project & private
Below 500K
Hulls without a commercial record, or needing refit before licensed charter work.
Ranges reflect what the desk sees across the Komodo and Raja Ampat market in 2026.
Before you offer
A timber hull needs its own survey scope
Commission a full out-of-water survey by a surveyor experienced with Indonesian hardwood construction, and budget the haul-out as part of the purchase. We can recommend surveyors; you remain free to appoint your own.
- Ironwood and teak. A surveyor who only knows fibreglass will miss what matters on these hulls.
- Resale, not build. This desk sells existing vessels with earnings history. New construction at Sulawesi yards runs 18 to 30 months with no revenue until launch.
Before you brief us
Questions phinisi buyers ask
Speak with the resale desk.
Tell us your budget range and what you want the vessel to do. You will get an honest read on whether anything in the network fits — including when the answer is that nothing does and you should wait a season.