Where is the Bira boat yard located?

Bira and Tanjung Bira sit at the south-eastern tip of the South Sulawesi peninsula, in Bulukumba Regency, roughly a five to six hour road transfer from Makassar. The working beaches and hardstanding sit directly on the foreshore, which is why hulls are drawn up on the sand rather than into a basin.

Can you haul out a vessel that was not built in Bira?

Yes. The foreshore yards regularly take timber hulls built elsewhere in the archipelago, and steel or GRP vessels within the limits of the ground and the ways. The controlling factors are draught, displacement, keel form and tide window, not where the vessel originated.

How are quotations issued?

In USD, after a written scope of work and an inspection of the hull. Bira Shipyard does not publish blanket price lists, because timber-hull work is priced from what the survey finds once the sheathing, paint and ceiling are opened up.

Yard desk · established coast, written method

Bira Shipyard — timber-hull work on the Tanjung Bira foreshore

Q: What does Bira Shipyard do?

Bira Shipyard is a yard-side coordination desk on the Tanjung Bira foreshore in Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi. It plans and supervises timber-hull work: haul-out and slipway slots, refit and restoration scopes, hull repair and caulking, condition surveys, and supervised new-build project management. Construction, repair, refit and vessel-sale contracts are issued by PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara.

Haul-out and slipway slots, refit and restoration scopes, hull repair and caulking, condition surveys and supervised new-build project management — run as one programme rather than five separate conversations on the beach.

slipwayHaul-Out & Slipway refitRefit & Restoration structureHull Repair & Caulking new buildNew-Build Supervision surveySurvey & Condition Reports programmeYard Project Management

WhatsApp the Yard Desk Send a scope

Traditional Indonesian timber hull shored on wooden ways on the white-sand foreshore at Tanjung Bira, South Sulawesi

A hull drawn up on ways and shored on the open foreshore — the working condition every Bira scope is written against.

Yard job sheet

Coast: Bira & Tanjung Bira foreshore, Bulukumba Regency
Hull types: Timber-first, mixed material
Quotations: USD, issued after a written scope and a hull inspection
Contracts: PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara
Road access: From Makassar, typically a five to six hour transfer

What the desk covers

Six scopes, one programme

Each of these can be bought on its own. Most vessels arriving at Bira need two or three of them sequenced against a single tide and season window.

Shipwright's hands pressing caulking cotton into an open carvel plank seam with a caulking iron and mallet — Seam work is a living trade on this coast — the craft is rarely the problem.

Why a yard desk at all

Most overruns here are scope drift, not craftsmanship

Foreshore yards run on relationships, verbal agreement and long habit. That is a strength when the work is routine and a liability when it is not. Cost overruns on a timber hull in this region are rarely caused by poor workmanship — the shipwright tradition on this coast is genuinely deep. They are caused by scope drift: a hull is opened, more rot is found than expected, and nobody agreed in advance who decides what happens next or what it costs.

The desk removes that ambiguity. Before the vessel comes up the beach there is a written scope, a stated inspection method, a defined change-order route, and a payment schedule tied to milestones rather than to the calendar. When the survey finds more than expected — and on an older hull it usually does — there is a mechanism instead of an argument.

Craftsmanship and project management are different products. You can have excellent workmanship and a badly run project. Judge the two separately, and buy both deliberately.

How the Build Desk works · The Bira Yard Guide

How a job runs

Two fixed tide events, and everything else planned between them

The haul and the relaunch are calendar events, not preferences. A missed window is a wait rather than an inconvenience, so the sequence below is worked backwards from the tide.

1
Enquiry and hull data
Length, beam, draught, displacement, build year, timber species where known, last haul-out date, and photographs of the garboard, stem, transom and any known soft areas.
2
Scope and slot
A written scope of work against a tide and season window. Slipway capacity on this coast is finite; the slot is booked against the scope, not the other way round.
3
Haul-out and opening
The hull comes up, is blocked and shored, and the real condition is recorded before any quotation is finalised.
4
Survey-led revision
Findings are written up with photographs. Anything outside the original scope becomes a priced change order the owner approves before work proceeds.
5
Execution and reporting
Work runs to the programme with dated photo reporting, so an owner who is not on the beach still knows what state the hull is in.
6
Relaunch and handover
Take-up period, seam check, systems commissioning, and a written record of what was replaced, what was repaired, and what was left for the next haul-out.

The method

Eight rules applied to every category of work

They are deliberately unglamorous. Applied consistently they are the difference between a six-week job and a five-month one.

01Write the scope before the hull movesLine items, assumptions stated, exclusions stated.
02Fix the two tide eventsHaul and relaunch, then fit the work between them.
03Plan the support against structureBlocking and shoring drawn from survey, not from habit.
04Open, record, then priceFirm numbers follow evidence rather than preceding it.
05Structure before systems, systems before finishNothing closed up before what is behind it is signed off.
06Control variations in writingDescription, photograph, price, approval — small items batched weekly.
07Report weekly with dated evidenceSo an owner elsewhere is not relying on recollection.
08Hand over a written recordReplaced, repaired, deferred, plus recommendations for next time.

Read the full yard record and handover standard

Work categories

What a Bira scope usually turns out to be

Client work stays confidential unless an owner agrees otherwise, so this is a description of work types and their governing constraints rather than a list of vessel names.

Category	Typical content	Governing constraint
Short maintenance haul	Wash, inspect, anodes, skin fittings, antifoul, relaunch.	Tide window; largely season-independent.
Inspection haul	Open in agreed areas, sound, probe, sample fastenings, record, relaunch without repair.	Access agreed in advance; produces the scope for later work.
Structural repair	Plank renewal, frame sistering, floors, fastening renewal by zone, seam work.	Dry season; timber lead time; hull support planning.
Full refit	Structure, then systems, then joinery and finish, in that order.	Sequence discipline; change control; usually a full dry window.
Supervised new build	Specification, material acceptance, milestone inspection, evidence, payment gates.	Owner decision speed; timber procurement; documented hidden structure.
Pre-purchase support	Haul and preparation for inspection, yard-side condition record.	Seller cooperation; independence where independence is required.

Scroll the table sideways →

Honest fit

What belongs on this coast — and what does not

A desk that accepts every enquiry regardless of fit is optimising for its own utilisation rather than for the vessel. If a job belongs somewhere else, you will be told that rather than quoted for it.

Strong fit Bring it here

Timber structure. Planking, frames, floors, deck beams, stem and transom work, fastening renewal.
Seams and caulking. A specialist trade practised as a living craft rather than an occasional revival.
Supervised new build. Traditional construction with owner-side specification, inspection and payment gates layered over it.
Joinery and fit-out. Timber interior work to a high standard, at lead times difficult to match elsewhere.

Poor fit Place it elsewhere

Heavy steel or aluminium fabrication. Requires plant, certified welding facilities and materials supply oriented to metal.
Major machinery overhaul. Needs a clean workshop, measuring equipment and manufacturer support.
High-specification paint systems. Needs controlled environment and humidity management an open beach cannot provide.
Complex composite work. Materials, cure conditions and specialist labour are oriented elsewhere.

Where a programme spans several regions — a hull started here and fitted out elsewhere, or a boat that cruises Komodo and returns for winter work — the desk coordinates against the wider national shipyard directory rather than pretending every job belongs in Bira.

Timber blocking and angled shoring supporting a wooden hull on a wet sand foreshore as the tide returns — Blocking and shoring drawn from survey, not from habit — and a relaunch planned around the take-up period.

Yard enquiries

Send vessel data first and the conversation gets useful immediately

The desk cannot say anything meaningful about a haul-out, a refit or a build without dimensions, displacement and photographs — and it would rather say so than produce a number that has to be withdrawn later.

Haul-out or slipway slotLOA, beam, loaded and light draught, displacement, keel profile, underbody photographs, intended dates.
Refit or restorationBuild year, construction, last survey, known defects, how the vessel is used, what you want it to do next.
Hull repairPhotographs of the affected areas, what changed and when, whether the vessel is currently afloat.
Survey coordinationWhether it is pre-purchase or pre-refit, vessel location, and whether haul-out access has been agreed.
Supervised new buildConcept, intended operating profile, target dimensions, timeline and budget range.

WhatsApp: +62 811 3941 4563
Email: bd@juaraholding.com
Quotations: Issued in USD after a written scope and a hull inspection
Working hours: Indonesian time; overnight messages answered the following working morning
Contracting entity: PT Komodo Galangan Nusantara

Message the yard desk Full enquiry checklist

Bira Shipyard is a yard-side desk. It does not sell vessels, act as a central agency or market charters, and it does not publish price lists for work that has not been surveyed.

Yard journal

Method notes from the foreshore

Working notes on haul-out planning, timber, seams, fastenings, systems and the calendar that governs all of it.

Bira, Selayar and the Flores Sea: Fitting Yard Work to the Cruising Calendar

Bira & the Coast

Bira Shipyard — timber-hull work on the Tanjung Bira foreshore

Six scopes, one programme

Most overruns here are scope drift, not craftsmanship

Two fixed tide events, and everything else planned between them

Enquiry and hull data

Scope and slot

Haul-out and opening

Survey-led revision

Execution and reporting

Relaunch and handover