HIN It or Lose IT

December 2002 - January 2003

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Larry Burden

Oh, the dream of building a kayak or a canoe from scratch and paddling around in my own work of art, knowing that my boat is unique and special. Unfortunately, nearly every home-built water craft I have seen lacks one very important feature - a means of identifying it if it's stolen! Boat owners often tell me they know their boat intimately and would be able to identify it anywhere, and they are right. They could identify their boat if someone stole it, but I couldn't.

Personalizing your kayak with graphics and special features is great, but that type of information cannot be entered on a police computer and does not provide the police with any grounds or authority to seize a suspected stolen boat when encountered.

All water craft in North America are required by law to have a "hull identification number" (HIN) permanently attached to the hull. The HIN is a twelve character number that describes who the manufacturer is, its production number and when the boat was made. When you purchase a kayak or canoe from a manufacturer, it will have the HIN on it. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers are complying with regulations and using the correct HIN format or applying HINs to their products! This practice is not only illegal, it places the owner in a difficult situation should their boat get stolen. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the regulations that require kit boats or home built boats to have a HIN, or how to get a HIN issued for the craft so it complies with the law. Builders of home made or kit boats are required to apply to the government for a government-issued HIN. In Canada it is called a "Single Vessel Label" and costs $5. This is not a tax grab or unnecessary government interference, but a very important feature of all pleasure craft. Unfortunately, the single vessel label is not very permanent.

I recommend you do two things: put a clear coating over the government label to make it more secure, and make an additional HIN label from a labeling machine and hide it inside the craft so the police have an additional means of identification.

The police need two things, a HIN so if it is removed we can investigate, and additional hidden identification so we can prove a boat is stolen and get it back to its rightful owner. We get no authority from the removal of any other type of identification such as graphics or your name - we get our authority from the HIN.

In the USA, government-issued HINs are issued at the state level. Some states provide a label or plate but most just issue you the HIN and you put it on your boat any way you choose.

I am not a great fan of that process because enforcement officers have no way of knowing if the State-issued HIN is a legitimate state-assigned HIN, especially if it is scratched into the hull with an engraving pen. It's bad enough that too many manufacturers engrave the HIN into their products, we should not compound the problem of escalating rates of theft by making it too easy for thieves. Engraved numbers are easily rubbed out with a little sand paper leaving little or no trace of the original HIN. The HIN is very important to the police because in most jurisdictions, if the HIN has been altered, obliterated or removed, it's grounds for the police to seize the craft as stolen property.

Which brings me to the other pressing issue - that of having at least one additional HIN hidden in the craft so we can actually identify it when we seize it. If you are building your own canoe or kayak please ensure you put several pieces of identification into your boat. The police need two things: a HIN so if it is removed we can investigate, and additional hidden identification so we can prove a boat is stolen and get it back to its rightful owner. We get no authority from the removal of any other type of identification such as graphics or your name - we get our authority from the HIN.

If a boat is stolen we need to know what the correct HIN is so we can put that information on the police computer. You may be able to identify your kayak by its colour pattern but there is a good chance your boat is going to be transported to another jurisdiction and the only method we can use to query a suspected stolen boat is its HIN.

In Canada you can apply for a Single Vessel Label by contacting the Office of Boating Safety, 200 Kent Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6. Ph: 800-267-6687. Web: www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca.

© Larry Burden is a Constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.