Application for vessel number; certificate; display.

4. (a) The owner of a vessel required to be numbered in this State shall file an application with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission on forms approved by it. The application shall be signed by the owner and shall be accompanied by the fee prescribed by this act for such vessel. Upon receipt of the application in the approved form and the prescribed fee, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall enter the same upon the records of its office and issue to the applicant a pocket-size, laminated or otherwise water resistant certificate of number, which shall state the name and address of the owner, a description of the vessel, its use, and the number assigned. (b) Except as provided herein, the certificate of number shall be available at all times for inspection on the vessel for which issued whenever such vessel is in operation. The certificate of number for vessels less than 26 feet in length and leased or rented to another for the latter's noncommercial use of less than 24 hours may be retained on shore by the vessel's owner or his representative at the place from which the vessel departs or returns to the possession of the owner or his representative; provided such substitute as the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission may prescribe by regulation is carried on board. (c) The number assigned to a vessel shall be displayed on each side of the bow thereof, as prescribed by regulations of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, using letters and numerals not less than three inches in height; except that this provision shall not apply to a one-design class racing sailboat, without power installed either inboard or outboard, which is required to be numbered under section 3 of P.L.1962, c.73 (C.12:7-34.38). No other number shall be displayed on the bow. (d) No application for a vessel number shall be approved if the applicant or owner has been found to have violated section 3 of P.L.1975, c.369 (C.12:7C-9) or subsection b. of section 10 of P.L.1975, c.369 (C.12:7C-16), until the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has been notified by the appropriate municipality or harbor commission that all outstanding charges for vessel removal, storage, and destruction costs have been satisfied. L.1962, c.73, s.4; amended 1980, c.97, s.3; 1985, c.56, s.2; 1995, c.401, s.21; 2008, c.52, s.1.