Sec. 104.5. Hull identification numbers

(a) Section 79-b of the Navigation Law provides that the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation establish a boat anti-theft program. The identification of boats, including the assignment of hull identification numbers to boats which do not have them, is an integral part of any such system.

(b) Assignment of hull identification numbers.

(1) Homemade boats. Upon appropriate application by the owner of a homemade boat, the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through designated employees and agents, and after appropriate investigation and/or examination, may assign and affix a hull identification number to such homemade boat.

(2) Unidentifiable boats. Upon application by a law enforcement agency having possession of a boat which does not have a hull identification number and for which the hull identification number is unknown, the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through designated employees and agents, and after appropriate investigation and/or examination, may assign and affix a hull identification number to such boat.

(3) Replacement of a hull identification number. Upon appropriate application by the owner of a boat whose hull identification number is known but has been lost or effectively destroyed, the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through designated employees and agents, and after appropriate investigation and/or examination, shall affix a replacement hull identification number to the boat. Such number shall be the original hull identification number assigned by the manufacturer.

(4) Miscellaneous. Upon appropriate application by the owner or a law enforcement agency having possession of a boat which never was assigned a hull identification number, but whose ownership can be identified, the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation may assign and affix a hull identification number to such boat.

(5) Proof of the assignment and/or affixing of a hull identification number shall be given by the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to the appropriate owner or law enforcement agency.

(6) The Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation need not accept any application for assignment and/or affixing of a hull identification number for any boat which is a 1972 or older model boat or any boat which is a 1973 model manufactured on or before November 1, 1972 or, if no model year is known, which can reasonably be assumed to have been manufactured or assembled on or before November 1, 1972.

(c) Registration of boats without hull identification numbers.

The registrations of currently registered boats which do not have hull identification numbers will continue to be renewed. However, a boat manufactured after November 1, 1972, shall not be issued a registration upon a transfer of such boat unless a hull identification number has been assigned and affixed in accordance with subdivision (b) of this section.