costs · buying · ownership · finance
Five-year cost of ownership — a worked example
One real-shape 15m houseboat, transparent numbers, year by year. The total cost of ownership across the first five years, and where the money actually goes.
Most cost-of-ownership articles deal in averages. Useful, but abstract. Owners often want a single working example they can adjust to their own situation.
This is one. The boat is a 15m houseboat in the AED 2.4M purchase-price range, used most weekends, berthed in a mid-tier UAE marina, no charter use. The numbers are realistic to the current market — composites of what we've seen across owners we've worked with. They aren't a single specific owner's records, but they aren't fiction either.
The boat
- 15m × 6m houseboat
- Purchased new at AED 2.4M including taxes and delivery
- Twin diesel sterndrive, 8KW genset, 1.2kW solar, lithium house bank
- Two cabins, full galley, bridge deck with BBQ
- Berthed at a mid-tier UAE marina (Eastern Mangroves equivalent)
- Used roughly 35 days per year — 28 day-trips, 7 overnights
Financing assumption: 50% cash, 50% marine mortgage at 6.8% over 10 years. Monthly debt service: AED 13,890.
Year 1
| Line | Cost (AED) |
|---|---|
| Purchase price (cash portion) | 1,200,000 |
| Loan setup + insurance setup | 12,000 |
| First-year berth (annual contract) | 48,000 |
| Fuel + utilities | 38,000 |
| Maintenance (warranty period; minimal) | 22,000 |
| Insurance + registration | 26,000 |
| Part-time captain | 32,000 |
| Hull-care contract | 14,000 |
| Loan interest payments | 67,000 |
| Year 1 total cash out | 1,459,000 |
| Year 1 running cost (excl. purchase) | 259,000 |
The first year is dominated by purchase. Running cost runs about 10.8% of purchase price.
Year 2
| Line | Cost (AED) |
|---|---|
| Berth (3% increase) | 49,440 |
| Fuel + utilities | 41,000 |
| Maintenance (still mostly warranty) | 28,000 |
| Insurance + registration | 26,000 |
| Part-time captain | 33,000 |
| Hull-care contract | 14,500 |
| Loan interest + principal | 64,000 |
| Year 2 total | 256,000 |
Running cost stable at 10.6% of purchase price. Maintenance ticks up as warranty starts to thin.
Year 3
| Line | Cost (AED) |
|---|---|
| Berth | 51,000 |
| Fuel + utilities | 43,500 |
| Maintenance (warranty mostly expired; routine maintenance starts) | 65,000 |
| Insurance + registration | 25,000 |
| Part-time captain | 34,000 |
| Hull-care contract | 15,000 |
| Loan interest + principal | 61,000 |
| Minor systems update (new chartplotter) | 18,000 |
| Year 3 total | 312,500 |
Year 3 is the first year that maintenance becomes a real number. The chartplotter update is discretionary; owners often defer it.
Year 4
| Line | Cost (AED) |
|---|---|
| Berth | 52,500 |
| Fuel + utilities | 45,000 |
| Maintenance (full routine cycle) | 78,000 |
| Insurance + registration | 24,500 |
| Part-time captain | 35,000 |
| Hull-care contract | 15,500 |
| Loan interest + principal | 58,000 |
| Annual haul-out (antifouling) | 22,000 |
| Year 4 total | 330,500 |
Year 4 includes the first major scheduled service. The annual haul-out becomes a recurring line.
Year 5
| Line | Cost (AED) |
|---|---|
| Berth | 54,000 |
| Fuel + utilities | 46,500 |
| Maintenance (routine + minor refit work) | 95,000 |
| Insurance + registration | 23,000 |
| Part-time captain | 36,000 |
| Hull-care contract | 16,000 |
| Loan interest + principal | 55,000 |
| Mid-life refit (year 5): electronics, batteries, hull treatment, AC service | 195,000 |
| Year 5 total | 520,500 |
Year 5 is the year of the mid-life refit. Some owners distribute this across years 4 and 5; some defer it to year 6. Whichever year it happens, it's a meaningful single-year hit.
Cumulative totals
| Year | Annual cost | Cumulative running cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 259,000 | 259,000 |
| 2 | 256,000 | 515,000 |
| 3 | 312,500 | 827,500 |
| 4 | 330,500 | 1,158,000 |
| 5 | 520,500 | 1,678,500 |
Five-year total running cost: ~AED 1.68M on a boat that cost AED 2.4M new.
That's roughly 70% of original purchase price spent on running over five years. About a third of that is loan service; about a third is maintenance and major service; about a third is operating cost.
Resale at year 5
Hypothetical sale at year 5 of a well-maintained example of this boat: roughly AED 1.5M-1.65M in current market conditions. Net financial result over five years:
- Purchase: -2.4M
- Running cost: -1.68M
- Sale: +1.55M (mid-range estimate)
- Loan principal repaid (rough): assume balance ~AED 850k repaid out of original 1.2M
Net cost of ownership across 5 years: approximately AED 2.5M, or AED 500k per year all-in.
Per-day cost (35 days of use per year × 5 = 175 days): AED 14,300 per day.
That's the all-in cost number. Less than a luxury hotel night in Dubai for two, more than a serviced apartment, comparable to a private guide-and-driver day in the UAE. The number is what it is — owning a houseboat is a substantial commitment.
What this exercise reveals
A few things that surprise owners:
The mid-life refit is half the year-5 budget. Plan for it explicitly, not as a surprise. Owners who budget for it find year 5 manageable; owners who don't find it stressful.
Loan service is bigger than fuel. Most first-time owners expect fuel to be the headline cost. It isn't, even with regular use.
Insurance costs less than people expect. ~1% of insured value is the working number. Less scary than the maintenance line.
Maintenance ramps year-on-year. Year 1's AED 22k becomes year 5's AED 95k+. Plan for it.
The captain and hull-care contracts are stable. Predictable middle-tier expenses; budget them flatly.
Variants
This template can be adjusted for different scenarios:
- No financing: Subtract loan service entirely. Lifetime savings around AED 300k.
- Cheaper marina: Subtract AED 15-20k per year.
- More usage (60+ days): Add ~30% to fuel, ~15% to maintenance.
- Charter use: Maintenance increases substantially (~40%); captain costs higher; insurance reclassifies.
- Larger boat (18m+): Roughly 30-50% larger costs across all lines.
What this isn't
This worked example doesn't include:
- Personal items aboard (food, drinks, supplies for trips)
- Major one-off events (anchor replacement after loss, hurricane damage, etc.)
- Owner's personal time investment (you're spending real time managing the boat)
- Opportunity cost of capital tied up in the boat
The actual experienced cost is somewhat higher than the AED 1.68M-over-5 cash flow suggests. The actual experienced value is harder to quantify — but the right answer is "the value is in the use, not the asset."
Using this as a buyer
If you're considering ownership, take this template and adjust for your assumed boat size and use rate. You'll arrive at a five-year number. Ask yourself whether that number is comfortable as a discretionary commitment.
If yes, the cost analysis says go ahead. If no, the cost analysis says wait, downsize, or charter instead.
The maths is straightforward. The judgement isn't.
Have questions on anything in this piece? Send a note via /contact — we read every reply.
Written by
The 101Marine team
Field notes from the team that designs and builds 101Marine houseboats. We write when we have something practical to share.
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