Hull ID Number

This is my first post on this awesome forum. My wife and I have a Vripack trawler under contract. We had a successful survey and sea trial last week and we are scheduled to close next week. However, the insurer is having a fit because there is no standard Hull Identification Number on the boat. It is my understanding that HIN's were not required on European builds when the boat was built in 1993. Has anyone run across this situation? If so, how was it resolved?

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This from Boatsafe.com

Hull ID Numbers - BoatSafe.com



All boats manufactured or imported on or after November 1, 1972 must bear a HIN.

Is the boat documented? Some insurers will accept a documentation number instead of the HIN.

TDunn said:

Is the boat documented? Some insurers will accept a documentation number instead of the HIN.

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If it is documented, then the HIN should be on that document.....

Our boat is documented. I could not find the HIN when we registered the boat with the state of Washington. I gave them them what was on the plaque inside. GB42-572. They accepted that (oddly). Later, I found the HIN well hidden under the swim platform. I attempted to correct the information with the state, but they didn't care since the boat was documented. They just want the annual fee for registration.

Our insurance company only cared about the documentation number.

There has to be a HIN somewhere on that boat. I have mine on the stern and on a spare in the engine room. strange.

The boat is documented. I just received a copy of the original builders certificate and import documents. The builders 'plate' on the boat only provides a three digit ID number, which fortunately matches the builders certificate and the USCG document. Hopefully this will suffice.

Our HIN turned out to be on the starboard stern up under the swim platform. Practically need a dive mask to find it.

BlueBelle said:

The boat is documented. I just received a copy of the original builders certificate and import documents. The builders 'plate' on the boat only provides a three digit ID number, which fortunately matches the builders certificate and the USCG document. Hopefully this will suffice.

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Maybe contacting the maker will get you the correct prefix, giving you a complete standard HIN

My boat, mfg'd in 1982 in Taiwan does not have a hull ID embossed on the stern starboard side as defined. Ct state registration requires a 12 digit number. My documentation package and all of the prior registrations / bills of sale reference an 11 digit number and the USCG documented number. Ct would not accept this format, Ugh. I have also brought the USCG certificate to Ct DMV and they did not want to hear it.


They have yet to receive my registration fees.

A different sized boat, but...

When I went to reregister my Shell Lake skiff that had been out of the water since 1980's, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts boat registration folks assigned me a h.i.n. And gave me a nice green sticker with the no.

Why does a boat made in Europe prior to 1998 have to have a HIN? HIN were a Canada/USA only mandate prior to that?

Canada has a process in which you can apply for a HIN for boats that do not have them.

I'd be throwing that question back to the insurer, or maybe finding a new one... Particularly for a Vripack. You think they'd know how to get around that bureaucratic nonsense themselves.

I'm sure it is a great boat!

Northern Spy said:

Why does a boat made in Europe prior to 1998 have to have a HIN? HIN were a Canada/USA only mandate prior to that?

Canada has a process in which you can apply for a HIN for boats that do not have them.

I'd be throwing that question back to the insurer, or maybe finding a new one... Particularly for a Vripack. You think they'd know how to get around that bureaucratic nonsense themselves.

I'm sure it is a great boat!

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Indeed, my boat is a custom built and the builder requested a HIN that is now on a plate riveted to the ER wall.

L

BlueBelle said:

If so, how was it resolved?
View attachment 70826

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The HIN plate fell off? Tsk Tsk. You could simply rivet on a new one.
https://www.ebay.com/i/182807944335?chn=ps

vripack may have designed the boat, Timmerman may have built it, XXX imported it. The importer was supposed to obtain the Manufacturers Identification Code but if it was sold in country of origin or a tax haven then all bets are off.

Just send the insurance co a rubbing of the builders plate. Should suffice for a documented vessel.

It is a US federal requirement to have a conforming HIN and USCG is enforcing this: https://snohomishcountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/43323

Our boat never had one. At renewal time this year Washington state vehicle licensing issued us one, we had plates engraved and installed them, done.

The marine title company you are using for your purchase can probably help with this, depending on what state you are going to register it in.

As QB said, above, the state where you register the vehicle can simply assign one. Many, many vessels and vehicles have no manufacturer ID number. Think about home-built cars, boats and aircraft. Think about older vessels that were built before such numbers were required, or were built in jurisdictions where it was not required.

We imported our 41-year-old boat from Canada this past year. It had no builder's number whatsoever. Washington simply assigned us one, gave us some information on several places to have engraved plates made up, and told us where and how to install them.

Northern Spy said:

Why does a boat made in Europe prior to 1998 have to have a HIN? HIN were a Canada/USA only mandate prior to that?

Canada has a process in which you can apply for a HIN for boats that do not have them.

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We have HIN's down here since 1972 as well.

They are always HIN plate on the transom and in another hidden place; both of which must be viewed by an official when re-registering the boat interstate.

I forgot to ask the previous owner where it was and I couldn't contact him when I went to register it. It took me two days of searching before I found it on the underside of a cabinet top in the forward cabin. I had to remove the drawer and stick my head in the drawer opening to see it.

It is very common for boats to not have a HIN number on them. Rules for HIN numbers have changed over time and many boats have updated HIN on paper but not on the boats.

If the boat has ever been documented in the USA then there has been a HIN number assigned to it but not necessarily attached. The seller should be able to produce paper work which shows the HIN number.

BlueBelle said:

This is my first post on this awesome forum. My wife and I have a Vripack trawler under contract. We had a successful survey and sea trial last week and we are scheduled to close next week. However, the insurer is having a fit because there is no standard Hull Identification Number on the boat. It is my understanding that HIN's were not required on European builds when the boat was built in 1993. Has anyone run across this situation? If so, how was it resolved?

View attachment 70826

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Yes here in Europe Hull numbers CIN had been in use for a long time. Here built boats it is usually found on the right of the boat Stern, look carefully it is of the same type as you have US manufacturing ground, manufacturer code, frame number and last manufacturing month and year the last two digits. Your Code start NL= manufacture counry Netherland, If it's made in Holland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craft_Identification_Number

NBs


P.S. In my opinion, a design office in Holland still exists, you can ask them about everything and everything about your boat, I do not know whether they have built boats or just designed and constructed another company that uses a well-known designer's name in its product

Vripack - Home

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

There has to be a HIN somewhere on that boat. I have mine on the stern and on a spare in the engine room. strange.

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I understand that it is common practice for manufacturers to put the HIN also in a second, usually hidden, location.

A word of caution for those of you whose boat's don't have HINs in the right place.
Several years ago, Mexico inspected all of the foreign vessels at its docs in Ensenada with the objective of confirming the payment of import taxes, for which foreign vessels are typically exempt with a Temporary Import Permit (TIP). A number of boats were impounded when the boat's HIN did not precisely match the HIN on TIP, or because the boat did not have a totally legible HIN easily seen on the transom. For many, it took months to resolve and required the services of Mexican lawyers. Meanwhile, the boats were stuck in port.