— from Milene Henley, County Auditor —
With the weather finally warming up, boaters are polishing their rails, shaking out their sheets, checking their zincs, and generally getting ready to hit the water. A part of that spring ritual is renewing boat registrations. All vessel registrations in Washington expire on June 30, and no one wants to be caught without a current decal on the 4th of July.
There’s a new wrinkle in that annual ritual, though. The Coast Guard is beginning to enforce new federal standards for hull identification numbers (HINs). About 19,000 Washington boaters have been sent letters advising them that their HIN will change. The U.S. Coast Guard is making these changes to:
- Improve boating safety efforts
- Enhance law enforcement capabilities
- Promote the US Coast Guard’s strategic goals of maritime safety and security.
The vast majority of vessels registered in Washington have HIN numbers that comply with the new standards. If your vessel’s HIN does not comply, the Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) should have sent you a letter in late March with instructions. Individuals who received this notification will not be able to register, renew, or title a vessel until the HIN is updated. A vessel with a noncompliant HIN cannot be renewed online. Vessel owners with compliant HINs can renew normally, either online or in person at the County Auditor’s office at the courthouse in Friday Harbor.
If you did get a letter, you must visit the Auditor’s office or other Vehicle Licensing Office in order to renew your registration. The office will generate a HIN that is compliant with the new standards and order you a new Certificate of Ownership (title). There are no fees for making the change, if the title transaction is due solely to issuing a compliant HIN.
It is possible that you received a letter, but your HIN does not match the one stated in the letter. If that is the case, bring a photo or rubbing of the current HIN with you to the Vehicle Licensing Office, and your record will be updated.
If you are issued a new HIN, you will need to update the HIN number on your vessel, in order to comply with the new Coast Guard requirements. Under these new requirements, two identical HINs must be permanently affixed to a vessel with a nonconforming HIN. It is recommended that the original HIN not be removed, covered up, or otherwise defaced; rather, the new HIN should be applied adjacent to the original HIN. You must use methods (such as decals, engraved plates, embossing) that permanently fix the HIN to the vessel. These instructions are included in the letter received by vessel owners who will have to update their HINs.
If you have any questions, please review the material on the Department of Licensing website at www.dol.wa.gov, contact the DOL Customer Service Center at (360) 902-3770 or CustomerCare@dol.wa.gov, or contact the Auditor’s Office for more information (378-2161).
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FYI: The photo with your article does not show the HIN. The HIN is located on the starboard side of the transom.
Let’s be realistic, this requirement has nothing whatsoever to do with safety. Security yes, but please don’t sell this as a safety measure.
The state has done a terrible job of rolling this out. My wife works for the local marina. People have been coming in asking her for the special HIN numbers. The marina has no such numbers, has no idea what the requirements for such numbers are, and the first they heard about them was when people showed up at their door to buy these mystery numbers the state says they can buy at their local marine supply store.
Apparently this is something the USCG came up with back in the 1980’s, but it was never enforced. Now, out of the blue, in the name of safety of course, this has become a matter of severe urgency. I feel so much safer already.
I called Olympia after I was unable to renew online beginning of April. I didn’t understand the “WHY” when we already have HIN numbers assigned to our boats. I was told that the state has recently implemented a new computer and data system and have been out of compliance for 3 years now. When I asked the WHY guestion there was a pause and the standard reasons listed above but then I got a a response that seemed to resonate with mine. It means a lot more work for the state or states as well. We simply went in to renew our tabs at the Anacortes Chamber DOL place in Anacortes and were issued the new HIN. A new title will be sent to reflect this. Hope it arrives soon. We don’t want to deface our newish paint job on our 1973 sailboat either by affixing a plate with numbers either. If your boat is older than 1971 then you are exempt. again WHY? There are plenty of vintage wood boats and sailboats like ours that are older than 1971. If this is a security and safety issue WHY don’t all boats have to do this? Anyway, another Homeland Insecurity measure, at least to us. The DOL has the instructions as to where to affix these numbers on their website. Our friend who works as a naturalist on one of the whale watching boat said the Coast Guard is busy stopping about every boat out in the water at this time. They have been stopped 3 times and have all their papers and equipment in order. I almost would say this is harassment. We did not receive the letter either. I would think there are more than 19,000 boats in this state.