HIN (Hull Identification Number)

A HIN (Hull Identification Number) is the nautical equivalent of the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) on your car. Most Australian boats will have a HIN attached or stamped into the hull. This is usually a 14 character alphanumeric code containing letters and numbers that identify the country, manufacturer, serial number and date of manufacture.

Examples:

Current HIN format - AU-TRX48119H765
AU-	TRX	48119	C7	65
Country of origin	Manufacturer’s identity code (MIC)	serial number	month and year of manufacture	model year
Australia	TELWATER (USA) LLC	unique identifier	March 2007	1965

Other HIN formats (12 characters)

Pre August 1984

Format 1 – no country prefix - ABC 12345 1278
ABC	12345	1278
Manufacturer’s identity code (MIC)	Serial number	Certification date

Format 2 – no country prefix - ABC 12345 M78D
ABC	12345	M78D
Manufacturer’s identity code (MIC)	Serial number	Alternative certification date

(the ‘M’ is an indicator that the characters following it indicate year and month of production – so in this case it would be November 1978)

Month post 1984 A – L
Month	1972 – 1984	1984 +
January	F	A
February	G	B
March	H	C
April	I	D
May	J	E
June	K	F
July	L	G
August	A	H
September	B	I
October	C	J
November	D	K
December	E	L

^