Boat-safety rules in Labuan Bajo in 2026: life jackets, passenger lists and weather holds, with dates

Safety talk in Labuan Bajo runs ahead of the paperwork, so this page keeps to documents with a date and an issuer. The Transport Ministry's rule on sailing clearances is published in the official gazette. The harbour office's guideline and its weather holds are cited as the regional press reported them, with the date of each report.

Everything below was checked on 3 November 2026. Notices of this kind change from week to week, and none of it replaces the harbour office's current announcement.

The base rule is Transport Ministerial Regulation PM 28 of 2022, enacted on 20 September 2022 and promulgated on 23 September 2022. It governs the Surat Persetujuan Berlayar, the sailing clearance that a boat needs before it leaves a port.

Article 11 lists what the owner or agent attaches: the captain's declaration that the vessel is seaworthy, a passenger and cargo manifest, a crew list, proof that the vessel's obligations are met, and the ship's papers with a condition report. Article 9 makes the clearance valid for a single voyage, and void if the boat has not left within 24 hours of issue. Under Article 13 the harbour master may refuse a clearance when administrative requirements are not met, when a court has ordered it, or when the weather could endanger a vessel of that size or type. The harbour master can inspect a ship reported unfit and postpone its departure, and may postpone it for weather as well. The captain, for his part, may refuse to sail a boat that he knows is not seaworthy (Article 14).

In practice it comes down to this. A clearance belongs to one voyage, and the person who decides whether it is issued is the harbour master, not the booking agent.

On 14 October 2024 the Labuan Bajo harbour office, KSOP Class III, issued a guideline for tourist boats, which detikBali reported on 16 October 2024. The report sets out the following points.

• Before sailing, the vessel is confirmed seaworthy under the captain's declaration, and the weather is checked at least six hours ahead and reported when the clearance is requested.
• Each boarding passenger's ticket matches the manifest, and the boat does not exceed its approved capacity.
• Enough life jackets and liferafts, in good condition, are on hand for the passenger count, and navigation equipment works.
• Fire extinguishers sit in the passenger area, the galley and the engine room, and crew keep electrics, fuel lines and machinery under inspection, with particular attention to generators.
• Distress signals are fitted, and a visual and audio safety demonstration is given before departure.
• Pinisi are named outright: all vessels, pinisi included, must undergo periodic major maintenance.

The harbour master can hold a departure by withholding the clearance if it finds a hazardous part or system.

The second control is at the pier. According to detikBali on 23 July 2024, the harbour office began requiring electronic boarding passes for tourist-boat passengers that month. An owner or agent enters each guest's name on a booking platform, and every guest receives a barcode. The code is scanned at a boarding gate and again at the exit gate, and it only works if the name matches the manifest. The system is set to refuse further passes once a boat reaches its certified capacity, and a final manifest is issued after boarding, showing who actually boarded.

Guests are told to board at the official piers, which the report names as the Marina Waterfront pier and two hotel piers. Your pickup takes you to the pier your boat uses.

The harbour office decides when boats may sail, and in 2026 it used that power several times. Its stated basis is the forecast from BMKG, the national weather agency, weighed against the size and type of the boat, according to detikBali on 31 January 2026.

• Late December 2025 to early February 2026: restrictions applied in stages. CNN Indonesia reported on 3 February that all tourist sailings were halted until 4 February after an earlier ban from 29 January to 1 February. detikBali on 31 January described a short reopening on 9 to 11 January.
• 23 to 25 February 2026: boats to Komodo and Padar were barred, and clearances were issued only for speedboats to Rinca, on BMKG wind and wave forecasts, reported by detikBali on 22 February.
• 6 to 8 August 2026: sailings to Padar and Komodo were suspended again, with Rinca the only permitted destination. The BMKG forecast for those days warned of south-east winds up to 24 knots and waves up to 2.4 metres, and detikBali noted that trips had resumed on 31 July after a series of stops and restarts in July.

Holds are announced by the harbour office day by day, so the current notice is the one that counts.

Weather holds are decided day by day. A hold is usually announced the day before it begins or on the day itself, and some are extended. No operator can tell you today if your date will fall inside one.

Refund rules are not standard. In February 2026 the chair of the NTT travel association told CNN Indonesia that boat operators, agents and hotels follow no common refund rule. Some refunded in full, others declined. Ask for the wording in writing before you pay.

Our own guarantee. If a boat cannot sail because of a breakdown, or a port or park order, KEXI supplies a phinisi of the same or higher class on the same date at no extra cost, or a full refund, normally within 2 × 24 hours once the refund conditions are met. A hold that stops every boat is a different case, so ask us before you pay how your dates would be handled, and keep the reply.