On a new build we work for the owner, not the yard. The service covers the technical brief, comparable quotations from multiple yards, shipbuilding contract review, a payment schedule tied to verifiable physical progress, resident or periodic supervision through construction, and sea trial and delivery. New-build project management and construction contracts are issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara. Fees and budgets are quoted in USD.
Why owner-side supervision exists
Indonesian yards can build excellent vessels. The recurring failure is not craftsmanship, it is asymmetry. The yard knows exactly what is in the specification, what is deliberately vague, and what will become a variation order in month five. A first-time owner does not. The gap between the two is where budgets go. An owner’s representative closes that gap by making the specification precise before anyone signs, and by holding the payment schedule against physical evidence afterwards.
Step one: the technical brief
Before you approach a single yard you need a document that lets three yards quote the same boat. That means stating, in writing: overall dimensions and displacement targets, hull material and construction standard, guest and crew berth counts, machinery makes and ratings or an explicit equivalence rule, electrical generation and distribution, tankage volumes, dive and tender arrangements, deck equipment, navigation and safety fit-out, interior finish schedule by space, and the certification standard the vessel must meet on delivery.
Anything you leave out will be quoted at the leanest interpretation, and you will pay the difference later. The brief is derived from your operating profile, and that derivation is set out on the Komodo liveaboard specification guide.
Step two: comparable quotations
We issue the brief to yards whose capability actually matches the hull material and size you need, and we normalise the returns so you are comparing like with like. A quotation that excludes owner-supplied equipment, or that prices a generator without switchgear, is not lower priced — it is incomplete. Yard capability varies enormously between the timber shipwright centres of South Sulawesi, the steel and aluminium fabricators on Java, and the fit-out capacity around Bali. Cross-region comparisons appear on the cost and timeline guide, and a wider view of Indonesian yard capability sits with the shipyard network across Indonesia.
Step three: contract review
The clauses that matter most in an Indonesian shipbuilding contract are rarely the ones owners focus on. We look hard at: the specification annex and its precedence over the contract body, the variation order procedure and who may authorise one, the payment milestone definitions, title and risk transfer during construction, insurance during the build, liquidated damages for delay and the exceptions to them, the warranty period and what voids it, the dispute and governing-law clause, and the delivery and acceptance test protocol. Ambiguity in the acceptance protocol is the single most common cause of a stand-off at handover.
Step four: payment milestones tied to evidence
A safe schedule releases money against physical facts a third party can verify — keel laid, frames erected and faired, hull plating or planking complete and watertight, main engines installed and aligned, systems commissioned, sea trial passed, delivery accepted — not against calendar dates or percentages the yard reports itself. We recommend keeping a meaningful retention until the warranty period has run, and we recommend that the final milestone be conditional on documentation handover, because manuals, drawings and certificates have a way of never arriving once the last payment clears.
Step five: supervision during construction
Supervision is inspection at the points where a defect becomes permanent. Frame fairing before planking. Weld inspection before coating. Tank testing before insulation. Engine alignment before the beds are boxed in. Cable runs before the linings go on. Photographic and written records at each hold point, issued to the owner, form the evidence base for the payment release and for any later warranty claim.
Step six: sea trial and delivery
The trial protocol should be agreed at contract signature, not invented on the day. It covers speed and fuel consumption at defined loads, manoeuvring including crash stop and turning circles, steering and thruster performance, anchor windlass under load, generator load acceptance, noise and vibration readings in guest spaces, watermaker output, air conditioning pull-down, and the safety systems. Komodo-specific trials matter too: we want to see the boat hold station and manoeuvre in a genuine tidal stream, because that is what it will do every week of its working life. Delivery follows acceptance, punch list closure and documentation handover.
What we do not do
We do not take a commission from the yard. The value of an owner’s representative disappears the moment the yard is also paying them. We also do not accept a supervision mandate on a contract already signed with a specification we consider unbuildable at the agreed price, without first putting that in writing to the owner.
Build or buy?
A new build gives you exactly the boat your itinerary needs and a known structural history. Buying an existing vessel gets you revenue two years sooner and lets you inspect what you are getting. The comparison, including the refit path, is on the cost and timeline guide, and if you are leaning toward purchase, start with the pre-purchase survey page. Either route has to satisfy the same rules — see Komodo National Park compliance.
Starting a build
Tell us the operating profile you want to run and the budget envelope you are working within. Email sales@komodoluxury.com or WhatsApp +62 811-3823-875. The first deliverable is a technical brief, and it is useful to you even if you never engage us further.
Frequently asked questions
What does an owner’s representative actually do on a new build?
Writes the technical brief so yards quote comparable scopes, normalises the returned quotations, reviews the shipbuilding contract, ties the payment schedule to verifiable physical milestones, inspects at hold points during construction, and runs sea trial, punch list and documentation handover.
How should payment milestones be structured with an Indonesian yard?
Against physical, third-party verifiable events — keel laid, frames erected and faired, hull watertight, main engines installed and aligned, systems commissioned, sea trial passed, delivery accepted — rather than calendar dates or self-reported percentages. Keep a retention until the warranty period has run and make final payment conditional on documentation handover.
Do you take a fee from the shipyard as well?
No. Supervision is only worth paying for if it is independent of the yard being supervised, so the fee comes from the owner alone.
Can you supervise a build that has already started?
Usually yes, though the leverage is lower once the contract is signed and money has moved. We will state in writing where we think the specification and price are already inconsistent before accepting the mandate.
What should a Komodo sea trial include beyond a standard trial?
Station-keeping and manoeuvring in a genuine tidal stream, thruster authority at low speed, anchor windlass performance under load, and fuel consumption at the transit speed your itinerary actually requires — not just a flat-water speed run.
Talk to the build desk
Send the vessel details or the operating profile you want to run and we will tell you what has to be established before a number means anything. Quotations in USD. Construction, repair, refit and vessel-sale contracts are issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara.