Buying Guides

Ownership routes, registration, permits and import for buyers of yachts and liveaboards in Indonesia.

Ownership comes before the boat

Almost every difficult Indonesian yacht purchase fails in the same sequence: the buyer commits to a vessel, pays a deposit, and only then discovers that the ownership structure they need does not fit the boat they chose. This silo exists to reverse that order.

The guides here cover the three routes a foreign buyer actually has — ownership through an Indonesian company, acquiring the company that already owns the vessel and its permits, or keeping the yacht foreign-flagged under the cruising permit regime — and what each one means for flag, duty, crewing and the right to carry paying guests. They also cover the permit chain that decides whether a liveaboard can lawfully trade in the Raja Ampat marine park, and the import position that quietly determines whether the vessel can ever be sold on locally.

Regulatory requirements in Indonesia are administered by the authorities and change over time. Treat everything here as orientation for the questions you should be asking, and verify the current position for your specific vessel, flag and itinerary before capital moves.

Guides in this silo

• Importing a Yacht into Indonesia: Duties, CAIT & the Cruising Permit
  Importing a yacht into Indonesia: temporary versus permanent import, the cruising permit framework, duty exposure and the decisions to make before the boat arrives.
• What Permits You Need to Run a Liveaboard Charter in Raja Ampat
  A practical answer for operators: the licensing, vessel certification and marine park compliance needed to run liveaboard charters in Raja Ampat, and how they interact.
• Liveaboard Charter Permits in Raja Ampat: The Complete 2026 Guide
  What permits a liveaboard needs to carry paying guests in Raja Ampat: vessel certification, operator licensing, marine park requirements and how they affect vessel value.
• How to Register a Foreign Yacht in Indonesia (Flag, PT PMA, Permits)
  Registering a foreign yacht in Indonesia: flag choice, ownership through a PT PMA, the permit chain and the decisions that must be made before purchase.
• How to Buy a Yacht in Indonesia as a Foreigner: 2026 Step-by-Step
  A broker's step-by-step for foreign buyers purchasing a yacht in Indonesia in 2026: ownership route, search, survey, offer, transfer and registration.

Apply it to real assets on yachts for sale, or read the pillar in full: buying a yacht in Indonesia as a foreigner.

Back to the full guide library, or talk to the broker desk.