Scoping questions
Answer Ownership Questions
Read the guides and still stuck? Send your stage, size or budget bracket and the specific question. We map the landscape before you brief the professionals.
Independent phinisi consultation
Contact Phinisi Owner:
Questions & Introductions
An independent review of your situation — stage, size, budget, timeline — then a direct answer or an introduction to a vetted specialist. We are not a brokerage, a yard or a charter operator.
Request a briefing
Tell Us Where You Are
Enquiries are read personally — no automated triage. Context gets a useful answer; a vague note gets a vague one. Your answers compose a WhatsApp message, and nothing is stored on this site.
- A reply to genuine enquiries within two business days, WITA (UTC+8).
- The guidance and the first response are free.
- If you proceed with a partner we introduce, they may pay us a referral fee — at no extra cost to you.
- Urgent? Say so. We prioritise, or tell you plainly we cannot match the timeline.
What the Desk Can Do
Answers to scoping questions, corrections to published figures, and introductions to specialists we have assessed ourselves. There is no pay-to-list directory.
Four confidence tiers
Correct a Published Figure
Every figure is labelled verified, single-source, estimate or unverified. Send documented first-hand evidence; we update when it warrants and credit you by name or as "industry contact".
Introduction
Wooden-Hull Surveyors
Surveyors with demonstrable wooden-vessel experience in Indonesian waters. Never parties who survey a boat and also broker its sale.
Introduction
Indonesian Maritime Counsel
Lawyers covering vessel registration, PT PMA structure and commercial charter compliance. Law 66/2024 and nominee risk are not questions a non-lawyer should answer.
Introduction
Yards & Build Supervisors
On-site supervisors for Tana Beru, Ara or Bira who speak Bugis or Konjo and have seen milestone contracts enforced — not a luxury above roughly USD 200,000 invested.
Introduction
Charter-Management Firms
Bali and Labuan Bajo operators with wooden-liveaboard track records and documented commissions. Management plus OTA commissions can take 30–45% of gross revenue (estimate).
Scope, stated plainly
What We Cannot Do
Not boilerplate. Several enquiries a week fall where a direct answer from us would be wrong or actively misleading. Being clear about scope is part of the value.
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01
List boats for sale
We are not a brokerage and keep no listings. The used-market landscape — YachtWorld, Indonesian brokers, Facebook and WhatsApp groups — is mapped in the market guide.
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02
Provide valuations
We publish observed asking ranges, not the value of a specific vessel. That takes a physical survey, a document review and someone reading the local market in person.
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03
Give legal or financial advice
The legal sections are information. Engage Indonesian maritime counsel before committing capital — above all on nominee arrangements, void under Investment Law 25/2007 Article 33.
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04
Promise any outcome
No guarantee on charter revenue, occupancy, regulatory approval, build quality or a partner's performance. Our only interest is whether our guidance was accurate.
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05
Sell a place on the list
No party pays to change what we publish or to join the introduction list. Larger fees do not move a partner up it; underperformers are removed.
The Introduction Flow
Read personally, with no automated triage. Four details let us match you quickly — and an urgent timeline gets priority, or a plain answer that we cannot meet it.
Questions About the Desk
How the consultation and the introductions work — and what they cost. Information, not legal or financial advice.
What kind of phinisi ownership questions do you answer?
Scoping questions grounded in this site's research: build-cost reality, the used market, legal structure under Indonesian cabotage, operating-cost modelling and charter-management terms. Anything needing a legal opinion, a valuation or a physical inspection goes to a qualified specialist — through an introduction.
How do you select parties for the vetted-partner list?
By direct observation and documented references, never by application or payment. A surveyor is listed because we have seen their survey reports; a lawyer, because we have reviewed their registration and PT PMA work. The list is deliberately short, and if a category is not covered we say so.
Can you help with both buying a used phinisi and a new build?
Yes. A used purchase usually needs a survey specialist first, then maritime counsel for grosse akta due diligence. A new build usually needs a build supervisor first, then legal structure once the commissioning contract is being negotiated.
How long does a vetted-partner introduction take?
For clear cases in a category we cover, typically three to five business days from our first reply. Rarer needs or a fully booked specialist take longer; we give a realistic timeline in that reply rather than promise speed.
Does a vetted-partner introduction cost anything?
The guidance and the first response are free. If you complete a transaction with a specialist we introduce, they may pay us a referral fee — at no extra cost to you. The fee never buys a place on the list or changes what we write.
Read Before You Write
Owning a Phinisi: The Start-Here Roadmap
Buy vs build, budget ranges, legal structures for foreigners, operating costs and exit.
Phinisi Marine Survey: The Wooden-Hull Checklist
Teredo worm, nail sickness, stability red flags and the documents that kill deals.
Foreign Ownership of Boats in Indonesia
Cabotage law, PT PMA caps, Law 66/2024 and the structures that hold.
Building a Phinisi in Indonesia
From keel ritual to launch: yard selection, contracts, timber and supervision.
Phinisi Charter Management
Owner-operator, management company or revenue-share — honest splits and trade-offs.
About Phinisi Owner
Methodology, the figure-labelling system and the correction policy. No yard, broker or operator affiliation.