How to register a boat or a vessel in Indonesia?
In this article we review how boat owners or business owners can take opportunities to set up a company in diving, water tourism and operate a boat in Indonesia. We also cover the boat registration in Indonesia. The country is the biggest archipelago in the world with 14 000 islands and a lot of tourism opportunities and sea ressources. Boat ownership in Indonesia The Indonesian government authorises crew members and boat owners to sail the Indonesian ocean. While boat owners can sail and transit in Indonesia and get a 3 years authorization with a simple vessel declaration (VD) under a foreign flag. However the process becomes slightly more complicated if a foreigner wishes to register the boat under the Indonesian flag. Indonesia is restricting the ownership of a vessel under an Indonesian name or under an Indonesian entity. Boat registration in Indonesia under 7GT Indonesia makes the registration procedure based on the gross tonnage of the vessel. If the gross tonnage of the boat is under 7GT, the boat has to be registered at the local harbour (PasKecil) and registered in the central base of the government https://paskecil-ditkapel.dephub.go.id/ This type of vessel used for daily scuba diving trips, fishing or other daily activities do not need to get an Indonesian flag to travel overseas and are limited to a few miles from the coast. Boat registration in Indonesia above 7GT Boat ownership is limited in Indonesia to Indonesian national or Indonesian entities with a majority of Indonesian shareholders. Foreigners can register or import a boat under a company called PT PMA and register the vessel under the company. The purchase and boat documents have to be proceeded under the company. The boat documentation is dependent on the gross tonnage of the boat. Each vessel has in common a document called Gross Akta. This document is the ownership of the boat. Vessels above 500GT and 1000 GT require several additional documents or a certification from the BKI (the Indonesian office of classification). To register the vessel with the ministry of transportation, the boat owner has to provide the following documents