| HIN / MIC translates as ... "Hull Identification Number / Manufacturers Identification Code 
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| 1. What are HIN's |
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| The HIN/MIC usually referred to as the HIN
has been required on all boats manufactured
or imported into the USA since November 1,
1972. In 1981 Transport Canada agreed to
piggyback on the US system and require the
same on all Canadian vessels. Prior to 1981
Canadian builders may or may not have marked
these codes on their boats depending on whether
or not the boat was being exported to the
USA. Europe now also follows this system. There has been discussion over the last few years of moving to a 17 digit system like the VIN on your car but bureaucracy being what it is, it may not happen in our lifetime. A 17 digit system would provide a lot more information and be more easily traceable. Each part of the code has some meaning and it's really pretty simple except that over the years the format has been modified so that there are four different version out there now. The rules for placement of the HIN's are also pretty simple although some manufacturers still struggle with these elementary instructions........... |
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| A. | In the case of the 12 character HIN, the
first three characters are assigned
by the
USCG and these three identify the manufacturer
or importer. Get the three characters
from
your hull and you can search the USCG
datbase
for builder/importer contact info and
even
check the Recalls Database to see if
there
are any active recalls on file. |
| B. | With a 15 character HIN, the first two characters
(optional) identify the country of build.
ie. FR indicates France. These two characters
are separated from the balance of the code
with a " - " and this is counted
as a character. This has some importance
if you are importing a boat across the USA/Canadian
border in either direction as they will be
subject to duy unless built in a NAFTA country. |
| C. | There are no spaces allowed in the HIN. I
have inserted a few spaces in my diagrams
for clarity. |
| D. | The charactes must be at least 1/4"
high. |
| E. | If additional information is displayed within
2" of the HIN, that information
must
be separated from the HIN by means
of borders,
or must be on a separate label so that
it
will not be interpretated as part of
the
HIN. |
| F. | The HIN must be marked on the upper starboard
transom or the upper starboard topsides,
aft, if the vessel has no transom. |
| G. | The HIN must be marked in a fashion such
that tampering will deface the hull. |
| H. | Date of manufacture must be no later than the date the vessel leaves the place of manufacture or assembly or is imported into the US for the purposes of sale. |
| I. | As of August 1, 1984 manufacturers were required
to mark an identical copy of the visible
HIN in a hidden location in the vessel. |
| 2. Interpreting the four HIN versions |
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| Version A. " Straight Year Format ".
12 characters. In use from November
1, 1972
to August 1984. |
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| A. | The first three characters may be alph or
numeric and are assiged by the USCG.
These
not only identify the manufacturer
but what
plant the vessel was built in. except
in
the case of imported boats. ie. On
a vessel
imported from Taiwan the code will
identify
the importer. in this case it is often
impossible
to tell where the boat was built as
thes
importers come and go like a bad cold.. |
| B. | The next five characters may also be alpha or numeric (except the letters I,O and Q) and are at the discretion of the builder as their own serial number. |
| C. | The last four digits are a straight date code for month and year the hull came out of the mould, hence the descriptor " Straight Year" version. |
VERSION B. " Model Year Format ". 12 characters, also in use from November 1, 1972 to August 1984. |
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| A. | Same as " Straight Year " format. |
| B. | Same as " Straight Year " format. |
| C. | The " M " is a fixed character
indicating " Model Year Format
"
and never changes. |
| D. | These two characters indicate " model year " and not necessarily year of build. A model year of 73' and a month code of prior to August of that year shows the vessel was actually produced in 1972 for the 1973 model year (much the way many 2010 model cars are actually produced in 2009. |
| E. | This alpha character indicates month of production as show in the key below. |
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| VERSION C. " New Format " 12 characters.
In use from August 1, 1984 to present. |
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| A. | Same as others. |
| B. | Same as others. |
| C. | This alpha character shows the month of build with January being " A " and running in sequence to " L " indicating December. |
| D. | Year of Build. In this case 1993 |
| E. | Model Year. Often a year later than the "Year
of Build". . |
| VERSION D. " New Format " with
optional country code making it 15 characters. |
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| A. | This one is easy. It's tha same as version C but with an optional two character country pre-fix with a dash between it and the rest ( remember the dash counts as a character)). The CA tells us the boat was built in Canada. For a list of country codes see USCG. |
| A few of the manufacturers have kept pretty
good records and can give you a surprising
mount of information if you call with the
HIN. Some like Doral and Hunter have been
especially helpful to me and Sea Ray has
been exceptionally helpful. Sea Ray once
spent over an hour on the phone with me to
track down a tampered HIN (turned out to
be a stolen boat). Others like Beneteau are
less than useless. I was involved with one
case where Beneteau charged a client to prove
the provenance of a boat on which they had
screwed up the HIN right in the factory ! The usefulness of these codes has been diminished or complicated by a number of factors like .... |
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| 1. | For years builders ignored the rules and made up whatever code pleased them. Stolen boats frequently have the codes changed. Sometimes boats from Non-NAFTA countries have the codes changed to avoid duties or codes were changed by builders to make old stock appear newer ( I have witnesssed this with the same boat three years in a row at the Toronto Boat Show). A few dealers have been caught changing codes on boats in their showrooms for the same reason. |
| 2. | Changes to the system over the years that has resulted in four different versions has also caused confusion. |
| 3 | Until April of 2006 our Canadian government did not even ask for the HIN to get a boat licensed or Registered and to this day it says right on the license application that they will issue a license without an HIN. Can you imagine them doing that with car ownership forms ! |
| 4. | Extremely lax rules and/or enforcement of those rules has allowed codes to be marked by scrating into the gelcoat, etching, moulding or little plastic plates glued or riveted onto the transom, all with variable quality. The Hidden HIN ( if ever fitted ) may be hand written in faded magic marker or pencil written on a piece of mater under some resin or a host of other methods. Again this would not be permitted in the auto industry. Why the difference ? |
| 5. | The boat buying public is wiling to put up
with this nonsense. |
| Despite all the problems with HIN's, other
than trying to trace the engine serial
numbers
it's pretty much all you have.so it
may pay
to understand what you are looking
at. |
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| Beneteau Bogus HIN/MIC : |
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| The HIN/MIC shown below has been tampered
with at least twice and done by less than
expert hands. The marine surveyor (me) had
no idea who did it so raises a red flag and
almost shuts down a sale. Note the three
different mould lines ( numbered 1,2 and
3 ) from the original moulding and two subsequent
patches. in this case it turned out that
Beneteau had screwed up the code right in
the factory, twice ? but they still charged
the owner $75.00 to provide a letter explaining
the discrepancy and even then it took weeks
of harrasment to get any action. |
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| Above - The suffix, after the dash is not
supposed to be there and the code has only
11 characters rather than 12. If this boat had been built in France it would have " FR- " prefix. |
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| Beneteau Correct HIN/MIC : |
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| Above - A moulded HIN on a US built Beneteau
normally looks like. This correct 12 didgit code without a pre-fix shows that the boat was built in Marion SC in April 1998 for the 1998 model year. |
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| Above - An etched 15 digit code on a French
built Beneteau normally looks like this. This correct 15 digit code show the boat was built in france in June 2001 for the 2002 model year. |
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| Sea Ray Bogus HIN/MIC : The guy who stole this Sea Ray knew enough to change the code but not enough to know it had to be in a certain format. Sea Ray to their credit spent a long time on the phone with me and eventually traced the boat because it had been ordered with the VHF in a non-standard location. |
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 This faked 12 character code suggests the boat was built in March 1992 for the 1998 model year ! |
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| Sea Ray Correct HIN/MIC : |
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 This genuine Sea ray 12 character code shows the boat was built in October 1985 for the 1986 model year. If you look carefully just below the code you can just make out another line of characters, this is part of Sea Ray's own ID system and unlike Beneteau is on a separate line.as required. |
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| C&C Bogus HIN/MIC : |
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 This one is from a C&C 27, has sixteen characters and follows no known format. |
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| C&C Correct format HIN/MIC |
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A correct C&C " Straight Year " format showing the vessel was built in August 1975 for the 1976 model year. |
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 A correct C&C HIN in the " Model Year " format showing a build date of March 1984 for the 1984 model year. |
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| Other info ..... |
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| - | USCG Recalls Database - Find out is there has been a recall of your boat using your HIN. |
| - | USCG HIN Database - Track down the builder or importer using your HIN. |
| - | Transport Canada Ships Registry - Want to register your boat by name ? |
| - | Transport Canada Ships Registry - Find the owner of a registered vessel using the name of the vessel. |
| - | Services Canada - How to get a license for your boat. |
| - | USCG Documentation database - Find some history on your boat usiing
HIN's, Documentation number and or vessel
name. Another US Documentation database - This one is from NOAA |
| Captain Wallace Gouk AMS® Marine Surveyor Port Credit Marine Surveys  |
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Captain Wallace Gouk AMS®, Survey reports accepted world wide by all financial and insurance institutions for sail and power boats servicing Ontario east, west, south and beyond including Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Grimsby, 50 Point, Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Bronte, Port Credit, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, Pickering, Port Hope, Coburg, Newcastle, Kingston, Brockville, Penetanguishene, Midland, Barrie and Keswick. I have also worked in New York State, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Virginia, Florida and the Bahamas. |
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