Raja Ampat & Sorong Shipyard FAQ
Short, specific answers to the questions captains, managers and owners actually ask us about
docking and repairing a vessel in Raja Ampat and Sorong. Where an answer depends on your vessel, we say so instead of
giving a number that reads well and fails on arrival.
Where the work happens
Where can I haul out a liveaboard near Sorong for underwater hull work?
Sorong is the working hub for the whole of Papua Barat Daya and it is where the Raja Ampat fleet docks. Slipway and dock
access is available for displacement vessels within the local cradle limits, and most liveaboards serving Raja Ampat schedule
their haul-out here between seasons for antifouling, shaft and rudder work, anodes and survey. Booking, dimensional limits and
docking windows are set out on the haul-out page.
Is there a ship repair yard in Raja Ampat itself?
Not for anything requiring the vessel to come out of the water. Raja Ampat has anchorages, fuel, water and light repair
capability; the lifting facilities are on the mainland at Sorong. Minor and emergency work — engineering, electrical, joinery,
in-water inspection and cleaning — is handled at island anchorages by travelling teams.
What size of vessel can local slipways near Sorong handle?
Capability is set by cradle length, the width available between shoring, and draft over the cradle at the top of the tide,
and it varies between facilities and over time as the commercial fleet books capacity. The correct answer for your vessel comes
from four numbers: LOA, maximum beam, maximum draft and displacement. Send those and we will confirm before you plan a transit
rather than after you have made one.
Can catamarans be hauled out in West Papua?
Moderate-beam catamarans can be handled with careful blocking at some facilities. Wide or heavy multihulls frequently cannot
be, and the honest answer in those cases is that another Indonesian yard is the better routing. This is a question to ask
before you sail, not on arrival.
Timing and booking
How far in advance should I book a haul-out?
Six to eight weeks for routine work with flexible dates. Around three months for a survey docking with class attendance,
because the surveyor’s travel diary binds before the slipway does. The whole Raja Ampat fleet shares one season and therefore
one maintenance window, so shoulder-season slots go first.
How long does a haul-out take for a 30–40 metre dive liveaboard?
A routine docking — wash, anodes, minor steel or seam work, antifouling, running-gear inspection — is generally ten to
twenty-one days, assuming the scope is settled before arrival and parts are already moving. Significant plate renewal, tank work
or a full blast back to bare substrate pushes it to three to six weeks. Surface preparation and coating cure, not the welding,
set the floor on that schedule.
When is the best time of year to dock in Sorong?
Either side of the main dive season, which is when the fleet’s charter calendar allows it. That is also when everyone else
wants the same weeks, so the practical advice is to decide early rather than to look for a quiet month that does not exist.
Blasting and painting also stop for rain, so a wet-season docking is a longer docking whatever the programme says.
Hull and structure
What hull repair is available in Sorong for steel vessels?
Plate renewal and insert plating, doubler removal, frame and floor repair, crack repair, sea-chest and appendage work,
blasting and coating, and thickness measurement campaigns to support survey. Welding is done to a written procedure with
identified consumables. Detail on the steel and fibreglass repair
page.
Where can I repair a wooden phinisi hull in West Papua?
Traditional wooden hull work — plank replacement, fastening renewal, frame and floor repair, caulking and paying — is
handled ashore in the Sorong area, which keeps the vessel near its charter grounds. Full rebuilds are sometimes still more
economic in the traditional building centres of South Sulawesi because of timber supply, and we will say so if that is the case
for your scope. See wooden boat and phinisi repair.
Can underwater hull repairs be done without hauling out?
Minor and temporary measures can: clearing fouled running gear, anode renewal, sea-chest gratings, and controlled temporary
sealing to allow a monitored passage. Permanent below-waterline structural repair requires the vessel to be dry. We will not
describe a temporary measure as a permanent repair.
Is underwater hull inspection available in Raja Ampat without docking?
Yes. Divers can inspect and photograph plating, appendages, anodes and fouling at common anchorages, which is useful for
planning a docking scope or for an interim condition record. It does not replace a docking survey where class requires the
vessel out of the water.
Coatings and machinery
How often should dive boats in Raja Ampat renew antifouling?
Twelve to eighteen months is the realistic planning figure, with some hard-matrix systems reaching around twenty-four months
on vessels that move regularly. Long periods at anchor in warm, nutrient-rich water pull that down. Product choice against duty
cycle matters more than product price — see coatings.
What marine engine services are available in Sorong?
Routine servicing, top-end and full overhauls, injector and pump work, cooling-system service, gearbox repair, shaft
alignment and running-gear work. The constraint is parts lead time rather than skill — genuine components for European and
Japanese engines typically move from Jakarta or Singapore. See
engine repair and overhaul.
Is marine electrical and electronics support available in Raja Ampat?
Yes, mostly by teams travelling from Sorong to vessels at anchorage. Switchboards, battery banks, charging, bonding and
stray-current investigation, navigation and communications work are all done afloat. Only below-waterline items such as
transducer renewal need a docking. See
marine electrical.
Can dive compressors and nitrox systems be serviced in Sorong?
Yes — compressor overhaul, filtration management, leak and safety-valve testing, gas-quality sampling, and nitrox membrane
and analyser service. Air intake position is the item we most often find needs correcting. See
dive liveaboard systems.
Survey, flag and paperwork
Can a foreign-flagged yacht haul out and refit in West Papua?
Yes. Foreign-flagged yachts and expedition vessels use commercial yard facilities in the Sorong area. The complications are
administrative — temporary import status, cruising permit validity, agent appointment and customs treatment of imported spares —
rather than technical, and they should be resolved with your agent before a slot is booked.
How are BKI or class surveys coordinated here?
The owner or manager engages the surveyor; we align the docking window with the surveyor’s attendance, prepare access and
opening-up, run the thickness measurement campaign, assemble the document pack and close out the resulting conditions with
documented evidence. We coordinate and prepare; we do not survey and we do not issue certificates. See
survey coordination.
What documents are needed before docking a passenger vessel in Papua Barat Daya?
In practice: registry and tonnage documentation, current class or statutory certificates, the last survey reports, stability
information, crew certification and safety-equipment service records, plus port and syahbandar clearance for the movement
itself. Foreign-flagged vessels add import and cruising-permit paperwork. Assemble the pack before arrival — chasing documents
while the vessel sits on the cradle is paid for in lay days.
Is pre-purchase survey support available?
Yes, including a short haul-out for underwater inspection, thickness readings and an honest assessment of previous repairs.
Doublers, undocumented plating and coating history are the three areas where a Raja Ampat purchase most often turns out to be
different from the listing.
Cost and planning
What drives shipyard cost in Sorong?
Seven components: lift and launch, lay days, labour, materials, logistics, third parties and contingency. The lines that
move most are surface preparation, parts lead time and lay days lost to indecision. For a working liveaboard, lost charter
revenue often exceeds the whole yard account. Structure and comparison method on the
costs and budgeting page.
How do operators plan five-year survey and refit budgets?
Against the class cycle: annual docking items every year, coating renewal and shaft work every two to three years, and one
heavy year at special survey with extensive opening-up, thickness measurement and structural renewal. Funding the fifth year
across the four before it is the habit that separates well-run fleets from the ones that arrive at special survey with a
problem.
What does refit project management cover?
Scope definition, tendering, programme and sequence, daily supervision, written variation control, weekly owner reporting
with photographs, survey coordination and a documented handover. See
refit management and owner representation.
Is there emergency support around Raja Ampat?
Yes, with response time set by distance and weather rather than by willingness — same day around Sorong and the Dampier
Strait, one to two days to Misool or northern Waigeo. Triage details and what to send in the first message are on the
emergency repair page.
Talk to the repair desk
Send the vessel particulars — length overall, beam, draft, hull material, displacement, current location and the window you have available — and the Raja Ampat Shipyard Desk will come back with a written scope and a quotation in USD for any of the above. Quotations name the yard, the slipway or dock, the work sequence and the assumptions behind every line.
WhatsApp: +628113823875
Email: sales@komodoluxury.com
Contracts for construction, repair, refit and vessel-sale work are issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara. All quotations are stated in USD.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a shipyard in Raja Ampat that can handle liveaboards?
Not inside the regency. Liveaboard haul-out for the Raja Ampat fleet is done in the Sorong area on the mainland, a short transit from Waisai. Light repair, engineering and in-water work are available at island anchorages.
What four numbers do you need to tell me if my vessel fits?
Length overall, maximum beam, maximum draft and displacement — plus hull material and keel configuration. Those determine slipway or dock suitability more than anything else.
Do you issue certificates or class approvals?
No. We prepare vessels, coordinate surveyor attendance and document the work. Opinions belong to the surveyor and certificates to the issuing body.
What currency do you work in?
USD, for every scope, variation and final account.