(a) If a licensed dealer or manufacturer owns a vessel mainly used in the dealer's or manufacturer's business and held for sale and that otherwise is required to be numbered under this title, the dealer or manufacturer may apply to the Department for the issuance of as many dealer's or manufacturer's certificates of number as are required for the normal operation of business and as the Department authorizes. A broker licensed as a dealer may not obtain manufacturer's or dealer's certificates.

(b) Numbers displayed by authority of manufacturer's or dealer's certificates of number may be transferred from 1 vessel to another vessel owned by the manufacturer or dealer and may be affixed in a temporary manner. These numbers shall be used only on vessels demonstrated, tested, or owned by the manufacturer or dealer, and these numbers are not valid for use on the vessels when chartered, rented, or leased by the manufacturer or dealer.

(c) Each application for the manufacturer's or dealer's certificates of number shall be on forms the Department approves and be accompanied by a fee of $24. The certificate of number issued under this section is valid for a period not to exceed 2 years and shall expire on December 31 of the calendar year following the year the certificate is issued.