Cost to Commission a Phinisi in Tana Beru (2026): USD Price Bands by Length & Fit-Out

The Honest Bands

Here is the plain answer most yards avoid giving. These bands are for planning in USD and are never a guaranteed final price — but they are real, and they let you decide whether a commission fits before you invest weeks in drawings.

What Moves the Number Inside a Band

Length and complexity are the biggest levers — every extra metre adds structure, systems and interior. Timber grade matters enormously: an ironwood-heavy structural spec costs and weighs more than a bitti-and-bengkirai build. Engineering — engines, generators, stabilisation, watermakers — can be a quarter of the budget on a serious liveaboard. Interior is almost unbounded: austere and nautical is affordable, fully joined modern is not. Classification and survey, if you need them for charter, add documentation, materials discipline and cost.

A useful rule of thumb: two identical hulls can differ by 40–60% in final cost purely on timber, systems and interior choices. That is why an honest builder quotes a band and then works the specification with you, rather than a single seductive figure that quietly erodes.

What the Bands Include — and What They Don’t

Our bands cover the vessel: hull, structure, deck, rig or engineering package, core systems and an agreed interior specification, built and delivered afloat at Tana Beru. They do not include owner-supplied extras (specialist electronics, dive compressors, tenders beyond the agreed package), delivery voyage or shipping beyond Sulawesi, or Indonesian government fees and duties, which are quoted separately and, where legally required, in local currency.

We put this split in writing at the outset. There is no benefit to anyone in a low headline number that grows by surprise — least of all to a builder who wants the reference and the repeat commission.

Paying Against Milestones

Payment is staged against build milestones, not the calendar: an agreed schedule tied to keel-laying, planking, framing, engineering, interior, finishing and launch. Money is released as work is completed and evidenced, which protects both sides and keeps the build honest. The contract that governs this is issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara.

Offsetting the Cost

Some owners build with an eye to putting the boat into managed charter for part of the year, using the revenue to offset ownership. That can work for the right vessel on the right route, though returns are never guaranteed and depend entirely on the boat, the operation and the market; the build-to-charter investment economics are worth understanding before you count on them.

Honest USD Price Bands

Bands are indicative for planning only and are never a guaranteed final price. Timber grade, engineering, interior specification and classification move the number inside — sometimes beyond — each band. Displayed in USD; Indonesian government fees are quoted separately.