§173.13. Exemptions. — Inbound Citations

(a) Except as provided in §§ 173.13 and 173.17, no person may operate a vessel to which this part applies unless they have on board in hard copy or digital form:

(1) A valid certificate of number or temporary certificate for that vessel issued by the issuing authority in the State in which the vessel is principally operated; or

(2) For the vessel described in paragraph (b) of this section, a copy of the lease or rental agreement, signed by the owner or his or her authorized representative and by the person leasing or renting the vessel, that contains at least:

(i) The vessel number that appears on the certificate of number; and

(d) Each number displayed on a tender exempted under § 173.13 must meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section and have a space or hyphen that is equal to the width of a letter other than “I” or a number other than “1” between the suffix and the number. (Example: DC 5678 EF 1 or DC-5678-EF-1.)

No person may operate a vessel except a vessel exempted in § 173.13 that has a number issued by the Coast Guard unless it has the validation sticker issued with the certificate of number displayed within 6 inches of the number.

(c) A State numbering system may exempt from its numbering requirements any vessel or class of vessels to which § 173.13 of this chapter applies.