Bespoke wooden-vessel commission desk
The commissioning and boatyard desk for bespoke wooden vessels built by Konjo and Bugis shipwrights — the panrita lopi — on the Ara–Tanjung Bira coast of South Sulawesi.
A working boatyard desk, not the shipyard or the survey office — we build, design and broker wooden vessels.
Three reasons owners come here
Commission a bespoke wooden boat, keel to launch, on a written stage-payment contract.
Buy or broker a finished wooden vessel — new hulls, near-complete projects and vetted used boats.
Walk the working yards where hulls are still shaped by hand, and learn the craft.
The vessels we build
Traditional two-masted rig or modern motor-sailer, cargo heritage or luxury liveaboard fit-out.
Western-derived hulls built in Sulawesi timber for owners who want a different rig and profile.
Designed dive-deck-first for Komodo and Raja Ampat — compressors, tenders, guest cabins.
Owner-focused layouts and finishes, balancing tradition with modern systems.
How long a build takes
Indicative ranges reported along the Ara–Bira coast. Fit-out, not the hull, is what stretches the calendar; treat these as reported windows, not a promise.
| Vessel size | Typical build window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 15–20 m | ~10–14 months | Working hulls and smaller motor-sailers |
| 20–30 m | ~14–20 months | Most charter and liveaboard commissions |
| 30–45+ m | ~20–24+ months | Custom yachts with full interior fit-out |
| Plain 30 m hull | ~9–12 months | Hull work only, steady crew, before fit-out |
Ranges reported for wooden hulls built on the Ara–Tanjung Bira coast; confirmed against current yard order books at enquiry. See the full build process.
Timber
Each wood is where it is because of what it does in seawater — not for decoration.
Method
Konjo builders shape the shell before the frames, edge-dowelling planks into a fair hull held in the master's eye.
Cost
There is no single price and no fixed list: a bare working hull costs a fraction of a fitted charter yacht of the same length. Builds run on stage payments tied to physical milestones, never a large deposit. Send your length, use and target season and the desk issues a written USD budget frame tied to the current timber market.
From the journal
Galangan kapal kayu Bira berada di pesisir Ara-Tanjung Bira, Kecamatan Bonto Bahari, Kabupaten Bulukumba, Sulawesi Selatan - But…
The best way to see wooden boatbuilding at Bira is a slow morning walk along the working shoreline, from the Bira headland towar…
The delivery voyage from Bira to your cruising ground is the milestone owners forget to budget - and it is a real one. Getting a…
Who stands behind the desk