Vessels & Due Diligence
Pre-Purchase Survey for a Phinisi Liveaboard: The Buyer’s Checklist
Published by the Raja Ampat Yacht Broker Desk · Updated 19 August 2026
A phinisi pre-purchase survey must cover timber structure and fastenings, keel and garboards, sheathing and caulking history, machinery and systems, dive plant, and safety equipment certification — with an explicit statement of what could not be accessed. The report is commissioned by the buyer and delivered to the buyer.
Structure first
- Fastenings and frames. The most expensive item to get wrong on an ironwood hull and the least visible in photographs.
- Keel, garboards and stern gear. Where a working charter hull shows its age first.
- Sheathing and caulking. When it was last done, by whom, and with what materials.
- Deck and superstructure. Guest-facing timber drives both repair cost and guest perception.
- Bilges and accessible internals. What the surveyor could actually reach must be stated plainly.
Machinery and systems
Main engine and gearbox condition against recorded hours, generators and their load profile, shafts, seals and steering, fuel and cooling systems, electrical distribution and battery condition, watermaker output against guest numbers, and air conditioning against cabin count. A vessel that cannot make water and cool cabins for a full guest complement is not a liveaboard, whatever the brochure says.
Dive plant
Compressor hours and service history, tank hydro-test dates, nitrox arrangements, rental equipment condition, tenders and outboards. These items are frequently assumed to be included and frequently are not. Ask for an inventory schedule.
Safety
Life-saving appliances with in-date certification, liferaft service dates, fire detection and suppression, EPIRB registration and emergency steering. Expired certification is not a paperwork problem — it is a vessel that cannot lawfully carry guests until it is fixed.
Documents that belong with the report
| Document | Why |
|---|---|
| Ownership and title chain | Confirms the seller can convey the vessel. |
| Class or statutory certificates | Establishes whether it can trade, and when the next survey falls. |
| Operating permits | Determines whether it may carry paying guests where it cruises. |
| Refit and maintenance records | Turns claimed work into evidence. |
| Inventory schedule | Stops equipment disappearing between viewing and handover. |
Who commissions it
You do. Independent survey work is referred out to an independent marine surveyor so that the report answers to the buyer alone. The broker’s role is to make sure the right questions reach the surveyor and that the findings are used properly — the wider framework is in pre-purchase due diligence, and the vessel class itself in phinisi for sale.
Next step: send the desk your brief — vessel type, cruising ground, budget band in USD and timing — via the enquiry desk.