{"data":{"id":"us/33-cfr-187.7","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"33 CFR 187.7","heading":"Definitions.","body":"As used in this part—\nApproved numbering system means a numbering system approved by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 123.\nBarge means a vessel that is not self-propelled or fitted for propulsion by sail, paddle, oar, or similar device.\nBuilder's certificate means a certificate of the facts of build of a vessel described in 46 CFR 67.99.\nBuyer means a person who buys or contracts to buy a vessel.\nCancel, with respect to a certificate of title, means to make the certificate ineffective.\nCertificate of documentation means Coast Guard Form CG-1270.\nCertificate of origin means a record created by a manufacturer or importer as the manufacturer's or importer's proof of identity of a vessel, and includes a manufacturer's certificate or statement of origin and an importer's certificate or statement of origin, but excludes a builder's certificate.\nCertificate of ownership means Coast Guard Form CG-1330.\nCertificate of title means a record, created by the office or by a governmental agency of another State under the law of that State, which is designated as a certificate of title by the office or agency and is evidence of ownership of a vessel.\nCommandant means the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard or an authorized representative of the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.\nDealer means a person, including a manufacturer, in the business of selling vessels.\nDocumented vessel means a vessel covered by a certificate of documentation issued pursuant to 46 U.S.C. Section 12105, and excludes a foreign-documented vessel.\nElectronic means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.\nElectronic certificate of title means a certificate of title consisting of information that is stored solely in an electronic medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.\nForeign-documented vessel means a vessel the ownership of which is recorded in a registry maintained by a country other than the United States, identifying each person having an ownership interest in a vessel, and includes a unique alphanumeric designation for the vessel.\nGood faith means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing.\nHull damaged means compromised with respect to the integrity of a vessel's hull by a collision, allision, lightning strike, fire, explosion, running aground, or similar occurrence, or the sinking of a vessel in a manner that creates a significant risk to the integrity of the vessel's hull.\nHull identification number or HIN means the alphanumeric designation assigned to a vessel under subpart C of 33 CFR part 181.\nIssuing authority means either a State that has an approved numbering system or the Coast Guard in a State that does not have an approved numbering system.\nLien creditor, with respect to a vessel, means—\n(1) A creditor that has acquired a lien on the vessel by attachment, levy, or the like;\n(2) An assignee for benefit of creditors from the time of assignment;\n(3) A trustee in bankruptcy from the date of the filing of the petition; or\n(4) A receiver in equity from the time of appointment.\nManufacturer means any person engaged in the business of manufacturing or importing new vessels for the purpose of sale or trade.\nOffice means the State department or agency that creates certificates of title.\nOwner means a person having legal title to a vessel.\nOwner of record means the owner indicated in the files of the Office or, if the files indicate more than one owner, the one first indicated.\nParticipating State means a State certified by the Commandant as meeting the requirements of subpart C of this part.\nPerson means an individual or any form of legal or commercial entity.\nPurchase means to take by any voluntary transaction that creates an interest in a vessel.\nPurchaser means a person taking by purchase.\nRecord means information inscribed on a tangible medium or stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.\nSecured party, with respect to a vessel, means a person—\n(1) In whose favor a security interest is created or provided for under a security agreement, whether or not any obligation to be secured is outstanding;\n(2) Who is a consignor under State law as prescribed by State law related to security interests in goods; or\n(3) Who holds a security interest arising under State law related to security interests in goods.\nSecured party of record means the secured party whose name is indicated as the name of the secured party in the files of the office or, if the files indicate more than one secured party, the one first indicated.\nSecurity interest means an interest in a vessel that secures payment or performance of an obligation if the interest is created by contract or otherwise as prescribed by state law related to security interests in goods.\nSign means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to—\n(1) Make or adopt a tangible symbol; or\n(2) Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.\nState means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.\nState of principal operation means the State on whose waters a vessel is or will be used, operated, navigated, or employed more than on the waters of any other State during a calendar year.\nTitle brand means a designation of previous damage, use, or condition that must be indicated on a certificate of title.\nTitled vessel means a vessel titled by a State.\nTitling authority means a State whose vessel titling system has been certified by the Commandant under subpart D of this part.\nTransfer of ownership means a voluntary or involuntary conveyance of an interest in a vessel.\nVessel means every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, except—\n(1) A seaplane;\n(2) An amphibious vehicle for which a certificate of title is issued pursuant to a state's motor vehicle certificate of title act or a similar statute of another state;\n(3) Watercraft that operate only on a permanently fixed, manufactured course and the movement of which is restricted to or guided by means of a mechanical device to which the watercraft is attached or by which the watercraft is controlled;\n(4) A stationary floating structure that—\n(i) Does not have and is not designed to have a mode of propulsion of its own;\n(ii) Is dependent for utilities upon a continuous utility hookup to a source originating on shore; and\n(iii) Has a permanent, continuous hookup to a shore side sewage system.\n(5) Watercraft owned by the United States, a State, or a foreign government or a political subdivision of any of them; and\n(6) Watercraft used solely as a lifeboat on another watercraft.\nVessel Identification System or VIS means a system for collecting information on vessels and vessel ownership as required by 46 U.S.C. 12501.\nVessel number means the alphanumeric designation for a vessel issued pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 12301.\nWritten certificate of title means a certificate of title consisting of information inscribed on a tangible medium.","path":["Title 33—Navigation and Navigable Waters","CHAPTER I—COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY","SUBCHAPTER S—BOATING SAFETY","PART 187—VESSEL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM","Subpart A—General"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-33.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:25:35Z","sha256":"9c79b8d935543ae2995c0428be300cac6344330af0c690980fa605a9a9b1ce62","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/33-cfr-187.5","next":"us/33-cfr-187.9"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}