Note: This was the first attempt to create the HIN… and parts of it are a bit confusing. For boats built between Novemand July 31, 1984 Example: 1234(5)E516, would have been made in May 2015. An abbreviated HIN of 4-5 numbers, followed by a letter denoting month of manufacture, and three numbers representing the year of manufacture and model year, as described above, may be attached to the tubes. Note: Cataraft tubes are not considered to be a boat, until they are married with a frame.

In our example, J3 designates that the boat was built in October 2013. Since there’s only one digit, it must be interpreted by the Model Year. The number is the last digit of the year of manufacture. The letter is for the month of manufacture: They are normally numbers, but letters (except I, O and Q) may also be used.

These five characters are assigned by the manufacturer. Since most of you will be checking on boats after this date, we’ll cover this first.Įxample: ABC12345J314 Manufacturer ID Code (MIC)Įntering the MIC into this US Coast Guard database will get you the manufacturer and their location. The system for building the HIN changed after this date. For boats built or imported after August 1, 1984 The number is usually found in the stern and can be engraved on a plate or stamped into the boat material. This is often referred to as the “boat serial number” or “boat ID number”. Since November 1, 1972, federal law requires all boats, including inflatables like rafts, IKs and SUP boards, manufactured in, or imported into, the US to have a unique 12-character identifier called the Hull Identification Number (HIN).

Lowe boat serial number lookup