Building a liveaboard as a business
A new phinisi liveaboard is a capital asset that can earn. Build-to-charter is the model: commission a boat specified for the charter market, put it to work in Komodo or Raja Ampat, and run it for revenue while it holds value as a hand-built wooden vessel. This page lays out that case honestly — the build cost, the revenue drivers, and the payback — without the inflated numbers the market sometimes quotes.
The build side of the sum
The asset starts as a build cost: a new dive liveaboard runs from the upper six figures into seven figures USD depending on length, cabins and systems, quoted after specification. That is the number to anchor every projection to. A cheaper hull that cannot sell cabins is not an investment; a well-specified boat that runs full seasons is. The build is contracted through PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara on stage payments, so capital is deployed against progress, not up front.
Revenue: occupancy and RevPAC
Charter revenue comes down to cabins sold across the operating season — occupancy — and revenue per available cabin, RevPAC. A liveaboard with comfortable, sellable cabins, a good dive operation and a strong operator earns across a longer season at a higher nightly rate. We build the boat to protect those drivers: cabins that guests rate, a dive deck crews can run all day, and range to reach the sites that fill a boat. See how those choices are made on the
Payback, told straight
Payback depends on build cost, season length, occupancy and running costs, and it is measured in years, not months — anyone promising faster is selling, not modelling. A realistic model runs the boat conservatively: shoulder-season gaps, maintenance haul-outs, crew and fuel, and an annual refit budget. The upside is real, but it is earned over multiple seasons by a well-run boat, and it is protected by keeping the asset in condition. Owners who want the boat run for them move to
a phinisi fleet already running scheduled charters.
Exit and asset value
A hand-built wooden phinisi that has been maintained holds value in a way a tired hull does not — which is why the maintenance line matters as much as the revenue line. The exit is a sale of a proven, income-earning, well-kept vessel. Build it right, run it well, keep it in condition, and the asset works for you at every stage. Talk to the desk for a build-cost figure to anchor your own model.
Bulukumba Shipyard is the regency newbuild-and-refit yard brand of Juara Holding Group (established 2015), a sister brand to Komodo Luxury. The yard sits in Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi — Butta Panrita Lopi, the land of the Konjo and Bugis panrita lopi master shipwrights who build and restore wooden phinisi hulls, from keel-laying to haul-out.
Talk to the yard: WhatsApp +62 811-3823-875 · email sales@komodoluxury.com. Every hull is quoted after specification; price bands below are in US dollars.