How to buy or commission a pinisi boat: routes, contracts and checks

By Pinisi Boat Editorial Desk

Sourced figures: prices in the table carry their source and check month. Asking prices are not sale prices, and nothing here is legal advice.

To commission a pinisi boat, you write a specification, take a written offer covering hull, rig, systems and interior, have counsel and a surveyor review it, then pay against stages the contract defines. The alternative is buying an existing boat, which swaps construction risk for the risk of whatever that hull already hides.

Should you buy an existing pinisi or commission a new one?

Start from what the boat has to do. If your use fits a vessel already afloat, buying gets you something you can walk on, survey and sail before any large payment. Two used boats with public asking prices appear in the price table on this page, and YachtWorld's Indonesia page shows what else is listed at any time. If your use demands a layout, a rig or a capacity nothing on the market offers, commissioning is the honest route, and you accept that you are paying for something you cannot yet inspect.

What are the steps in commissioning a pinisi?

The order below is our editorial advice for a buyer. It describes the decisions you need to make and when, and it should not be read as an account of how any one builder works.

1. Define the use. Private cruising or paid charter, and in which waters. This answer shapes the flag, company and crew questions, so settle it before anything is drawn.
2. Write the brief. Length and beam, guest numbers, cabin layout, hull type, whether the sails are to be worked or carried for appearance, engines and systems.
3. Ask for a written offer. It should itemise scope, price, schedule, materials and the stages at which money changes hands.
4. Take advice before signing. An Indonesian maritime lawyer reads the contract and a surveyor reads the specification.
5. Agree access. Write down your right to inspect, or to send someone, at each stage, and what happens when a stage fails inspection.
6. Follow the build. Keep dated photographs and written change orders. A change agreed only in conversation invites a later dispute.
7. Trial and handover. Require a sea trial under the agreed conditions, a list of defects and all vessel documents before the final payment.

How long does building a pinisi take?

We cannot give you a reliable answer. Build times by size band circulate, some on sites within our own group, and we have found none we can cite, so the schedule you plan around should be the one a contract commits to, with dates for each stage and a stated consequence for missing them. Ask what the schedule assumes about timber and labour. A summary of a UNESCO periodic report lists scarce quality timber and pressure on labour among the threats to the craft, and either could affect a long project.

Who builds the boat, and where?

Historically, pinisi-rigged ships were built mainly by Konjo-speaking people of Ara, in Bulukumba's Bontobahari district, and by people of Bira, Lemo-Lemo and Tana Beru, according to Wikipedia. UNESCO's decision lists Tana Beru, Bira and Batu Licin among today's centres. Our page on Tana Beru covers visiting the area.

Roles can also be split. CharterWorld credits the construction of the 65.2-metre Lamima to local builders on the beach at Bira and Ara, and her exterior design to a separately named designer. If your project divides design from construction in the same way, the contract should say who answers for what when the two disagree. Ask by name who leads the work on site.

What should a surveyor check on a used pinisi before you pay?

Hire a surveyor who answers to you and is paid by you, and have the report in writing before any deposit becomes non-refundable. A useful brief covers at least:

• Hull planking, keel and fastenings, inspected out of the water where that can be arranged.
• Signs of rot, leakage and past repairs, and whether repair records exist.
• Engines, steering, electrics, fuel and plumbing, each run under load.
• Masts, rigging and sails, if the rig is part of what you are buying.
• Safety equipment and its service dates, read alongside our note on pinisi safety.
• Vessel papers, flag and ownership chain, matched against the boat in front of you.
• Stated year and length, checked against what can be measured. Listings may leave out or blur these details.

How do company, flag and crew affect what you commission?

They affect it most if the boat will earn money. Consultancy Emerhub says a liveaboard business in Indonesia is typically run through a PT PMA with Indonesian flag registration and Indonesian crew. That is a commercial adviser's description and not a legal text. Law 17 of 2008 on Shipping also bears on this, and our regulations page explains what we can and cannot say about it. Crew quarters, passenger numbers and documents all follow from those choices, so raise them with counsel while the brief is still open. Our page on owning a phinisi in Indonesia takes the subject further.

Who is on the other side of the contract?

That depends on who makes the offer, so read the signature block before the price. If your request comes through this desk, it can lead to a contract with our company, and you should test that offer exactly as you would a stranger's. The site itself is not a contracting party. Construction, repair, refit and vessel-sale contracts are issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara. The work location is stated in the offer, and so are any fee and payment terms.

What are the short answers for first-time buyers?

Does the UNESCO listing certify a particular boat or builder?

No. The 2017 inscription on the Representative List covers the art of boatbuilding in South Sulawesi as a tradition. It says nothing about the quality of any individual vessel or contract.

What should the brief say about the rig?

It should say whether you want a working sail plan or a motor vessel in the pinisi style. The word alone will not settle that, so name the masts, the sails and who is expected to handle them.

Should the price include engines and interior?

Yes, or the offer should state plainly that they are excluded. A hull-only figure set beside a finished-boat figure is a false comparison.

Do I need a lawyer before signing?

Yes. Contract, flag and company questions under Indonesian law call for a licensed Indonesian maritime lawyer, and it is far easier to change a draft than a signed agreement.

Does charter use change what I should commission?

Yes. Paid guests bring company, flag and crew questions that a private boat may not face, and those answers affect accommodation, documents and running costs.

Which sources support this page?

• YachtWorld: boats for sale in Indonesia
• UNESCO periodic report
• UNESCO: Pinisi, art of boatbuilding in South Sulawesi
• UNESCO Committee decisions, 12.COM
• Wikipedia: Pinisi
• CharterWorld: Lamima completion report
• Emerhub: liveaboard business in Indonesia
• Directorate General of Sea Transportation note citing Law 17 of 2008

How do I reach the desk?

A one-page brief is enough to begin: intended use, rough length, guest numbers and where the boat will work. Send it to bd@juaraholding.com or through WhatsApp 6281139414563.