Methodology
Four Pillars, and the Order They Are Weighted In
Structure first, systems second, paper third, interior last. A vessel has to clear a threshold on all four to reach the book — and the order is deliberate, because you can refit an interior and you cannot refit a hull.
- 40%
- Structure and naval integrity
- 30%
- Mechanical, electrical, plumbing
- 20%
- Legal and documentary
- 10%
- Interior and guest experience
Quick answer
Structure carries 40% of the assessment, systems 30%, legal and documentary compliance 20%, and interior fit-out 10%. A vessel must clear a minimum in all four rather than average well across them.
- Interior weighs least because it is the only pillar money can fix afterwards.
- The dry-dock inspection is the one that cannot be skipped or deferred.
- The independent surveyor is appointed by the buyer, not by this desk.
The weightings contradicted themselves
The previous version of this page listed interior fit-out at 10% in its pillar list and then, further down, as a second pillar at 30% — two different weightings for the same category on the same page, and the four figures no longer summed to 100. The 40/30/20/10 set is used here because it is the one that reconciles. Each pillar was also attributed to a named staff member; those attributions are removed along with the personas they referred to, and the surveyor who actually scores structure and systems is independent and appointed by you.
The four pillars
What Is Actually Inspected, Pillar by Pillar
This is standard marine survey practice applied to a wooden hull. The ironwood and teak change what you look for, not how rigorously you look.
-
40% · structure
Structural and naval integrity
Hull above and below the waterline, with the vessel dry-docked — the ironwood keel and planking checked for marine borer, rot and damage. Internal frames, deck beams and teak decking for soundness, fastening and water tightness. Ballast type and security, the stability booklet, and sea-keeping under a mandatory sea trial. Rudder stock, steering gear and the emergency steering system.
Weighted highest because it is the only pillar that cannot be bought later.
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30% · systems
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing
Main engines with service history and running hours, cooling and transmission, with oil sample analysis where the history is thin. Generators under load, wiring standards and the power management system. Fresh water tanks, water makers, pumps and marine sanitation devices against MARPOL. Bilge pumps, engine-room fire suppression and emergency lighting.
Failures here are expensive but survivable. Failures in the pillar above are not.
-
20% · paper
Legal and documentary compliance
Title through the Grosse Akta and the ownership chain, tonnage through the Surat Ukur, nationality and safety certification currency, class status where the vessel carries it, and crew documentation. Any outstanding encumbrance against the hull.
A finding here is usually binary: a missing title ends a transaction rather than repricing it.
-
10% · interior
Interior fit-out and guest experience
Joinery quality and condition, cabin configuration against intended use, galley and service spaces, air conditioning and ensuite provision, and how the deck spaces actually work for guests.
Weighted lowest on purpose. It is the pillar a refit budget can move, and the one most likely to distract a buyer from the other three.
The process
From First Look to the Book
A vessel reaches the listings after this, not before it.
- Required
On-water inspection, before listing
The desk visits every vessel it lists, usually on her current charter routing, and records the owner’s actual position. No cost to any buyer.
Desk · pre-listing
- Required
Document file assembled
Prior surveys, refit invoices, charter revenue where relevant, and crew notes — gathered before the listing publishes rather than requested after an offer.
Desk · pre-listing
- Required
Threshold in all four pillars
A vessel that scores well on three and fails one does not reach the book. Averaging is how a rotten keel gets sold on the strength of its interior.
Desk · pre-listing
- Required
Independent survey
Appointed by the buyer, reporting to the buyer. Marine survey, sea trial and document audit are conditions of sale in the standard contract.
Buyer · post-shortlist
- Required
Dry-dock for the hull inspection
Below the waterline cannot be assessed afloat. On a wooden hull this is the single most informative hour of the process.
Buyer · post-shortlist
- Conditional
Oil sample analysis
Where engine service history is incomplete or running hours look inconsistent with condition.
If history is thin
The desk’s own inspection happens before a vessel is listed and costs a buyer nothing. The independent survey happens after a buyer shortlists, and is theirs.
What a wooden hull needs that steel does not
Why This Is Not a Generic Survey
A general marine surveyor will find the same engine faults on a phinisi as on anything else. What they will not reliably find is what ironwood does after fifteen years in tropical saltwater, where a phinisi hides its repairs, or which fastening patterns are normal for a Bulukumba yard and which are a shortcut.
That is the argument for a surveyor with phinisi experience specifically, and it is also why the desk’s own pre-listing inspection is not a substitute for yours. Two sets of eyes with different incentives is the point.
- Marine borer and rot Ironwood
- The failure mode a steel hull simply does not have. Found below the waterline, which means dry-dock or nothing.
- Fastening condition Hull
- How the planking is held. A pattern that is normal at one yard and a shortcut at another.
- Repairs behind joinery Interior
- Wooden hulls get repaired in place, and interior joinery closes over the evidence.
- Rig and standing rigging Gaff schooner
- Two masts and a traditional rig — not a configuration most surveyors see often.
- Stability booklet Documentation
- Reviewed against actual sea-keeping on the trial rather than filed and trusted.
- Deck water tightness Teak
- Where a slow leak becomes a structural problem years before anyone notices it inside.
Also in this silo
How We Work
Per vessel
Ask How a Specific Hull Scored
Every vessel on the book cleared the threshold in all four pillars. Ask about one and the desk will tell you where it was strong, where it was marginal, and what the refit reserve reflects.
Or call +62 811-3941-4563
- Pre-listing inspection findings shared per vessel
- Independent surveyor appointed by you
- Dry-dock arranged for the hull inspection