Updated: August 2026
A shipyard sells two things: skill and space. Skill is what owners evaluate; space is what actually determines when a vessel gets built. A building position, or slot, is a physical berth on the slipway with a crew assigned to it, and until you hold one with a dated start, you do not have a build programme — you have an intention.
- A slot is a physical position plus an assigned crew, not simply a place on a waiting list.
- Deposits should buy a dated start with defined consequences if either side moves it.
- Booking a slot before the design is frozen is the most common way owners lose money and time at once.
What a building position really is
Walk a working yard and you will see a limited number of usable positions: places where a hull can be built, supported, and later moved to the water. Each position occupies ground, blocks access, and consumes a crew. That is why capacity is so rigid. A yard can hire more finishers relatively quickly; it cannot conjure another slipway or another team of experienced shell planking shipwrights in a season.
Understanding this reframes the negotiation. When you ask a yard for a start date, you are asking them to commit a physical asset and a scarce crew for a period measured in years. A yard that gives that commitment casually is either not busy or not being straight with you.
What a slot deposit should buy
A slot deposit is common and reasonable, because the yard is turning away other work to hold the position. But the agreement should be specific about what it buys. At minimum it should name the position, state the start window, describe what happens if the yard cannot start on time, and describe what happens if the owner is not ready. Without those four elements, a deposit is simply an interest-free loan to a shipyard.
The asymmetry to watch is the one where the owner is penalised for delay and the yard is not. Balanced clauses usually allow a modest grace period on both sides, then apply a defined consequence: a credit against the contract price, a re-slotting right, or a refund path. None of this is adversarial. It is simply the difference between an agreement and a hope.
Do not book a slot before the design is frozen
The sequence that works is design, specification, contract, slot. The sequence that hurts is slot, then design. Owners who secure a berth early, believing they are being decisive, often arrive at the start date with an unfinished general arrangement. The yard then faces a choice: start building against incomplete drawings, or leave a paid position idle. Both outcomes are bad, and the first is worse, because early structural work built against the wrong arrangement is expensive to undo.
A more disciplined approach is to reserve a start window while the design is completed, with a defined date by which the drawings must be approved. That protects the yard from an idle berth and protects the owner from building the wrong vessel quickly.
Seasonality and the queue
Yard queues are not evenly distributed through the year. Exterior work slows during the heaviest rain months, and yards that build in the open plan around that reality. A start date placed just before a long wet period can lose weeks before the hull is far enough along to be workable in poor weather. Conversely, a start timed so that the shell is up and the vessel is closed in before the season turns can save an entire block of downtime.
This is worth asking about explicitly. A yard that plans its queue around weather is a yard that thinks about delivery. A yard that treats the calendar as uniform will discover the weather anyway, only later and at your cost.
Holding the yard to the start
The most useful protection is not a penalty clause; it is visibility. Agree that the yard will confirm the position status at fixed intervals in the months before your start, and that you or your representative may visit to see the vessel currently occupying it. A hull that is still being planked eight weeks before your start date is a clear signal, and it is much easier to re-plan three months out than three weeks out.
Where an owner has no representative in the country, this is the single strongest argument for appointing one. A short monthly visit and a photographed status note costs very little against the price of discovering a slipped start after the crew has been hired and the first charter has been sold.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead should I book a build slot?
For a capable yard and a mid-size vessel, planning six to twelve months ahead of the intended start is realistic, longer if you want a specific yard and a specific team. The binding constraint is usually the vessel currently occupying the position, so the answer differs yard by yard and is worth asking directly.
Is a slot deposit refundable?
That depends entirely on what you negotiate. Fully non-refundable deposits are common but should then be matched by firm obligations on the yard’s side. A workable middle ground converts the deposit into the first contract payment once the build starts, with a defined refund or re-slot path if the yard cannot begin within an agreed window.
Can I hold slots at two yards while I decide?
You can, and some owners do, but it is expensive and it damages trust if discovered. A better approach is to complete the yard evaluation before committing, then place one deposit with a clear start window. Yards talk to each other more than owners assume.
What happens if my design is late but the slot is ready?
Well-written agreements give the yard the right to bring another vessel forward and re-slot yours, usually with the deposit preserved. Without such a clause, owners often feel pressured to start construction against unfinished drawings, which is the more expensive mistake by a wide margin.
Related reading
Speak to the build desk
If your target season is fixed, working backwards from the first charter date is the only reliable way to choose a start. Send the vessel length, intended operating area and target delivery window to our build desk on WhatsApp at +62 811-3941-4563 or by email at [email protected], and you will receive a written response covering yard options, realistic programme dates and the documents required before any money moves. All figures are quoted in USD.
Who you contract with
Phinisi Shipyard is a specialist maritime brand and digital platform under Juara Holding Group. Construction, new-build project management, supervision, handover and vessel-sale contracts are issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara. Technical and commercial vessel management is contracted separately through PT Komodo Vessel Management, and brokerage, central agency and charter marketing through PT Komodo Bahari Nusantara. Separate contracts, separate fees, separate ledgers, one integrated maritime ecosystem.
