89 Ships, boats and floating structures
The broadest level of the Harmonized System. Pick the heading below that fits your goods, then the six-digit code under it — that last one is what you declare.
Section XVII, Vehicles & Transport — railway stock, road vehicles, aircraft, ships and transport equipment.
- 89 Chapter Ships, boats and floating structures
- —— Heading Pick one of the 8 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 89 covers ships, boats and floating structures: vessels of every kind from cargo ships to yachts to floating docks, plus their associated equipment. Classification tip: Vessel classification splits by function (cargo, fishing, pleasure, tug) and by propulsion, and importing a vessel usually also triggers flagging, registration and marine-safety requirements well beyond the HS code itself.
8 headings in chapter 89
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
- 89.01 Cruise ships, excursion boats, ferry-boats, cargo ships, barges and similar vessels for the transport of persons or goods 4 codes
- 89.02 Fishing vessels, factory ships and other vessels; for processing or preserving fishery products 1 code
- 89.03 Yachts and other vessels; for pleasure or sports, rowing boats and canoes 11 codes
- 89.04 Tugs and pusher craft 1 code
- 89.05 Light-vessels, fire-floats, dredgers, floating cranes, other vessels; the navigability of which is subsidiary to main function; floating docks, floating, submersible drilling, production platforms 3 codes
- 89.06 Vessels; other, including warships and lifeboats, other than rowing boats 2 codes
- 89.07 Boats, floating structures, other (for e.g. rafts, tanks, coffer-dams, landing stages, buoys and beacons) 2 codes
- 89.08 Vessels and other floating structures; for breaking up 1 code
Other chapters in Section XVII
The wording above is the Harmonized System nomenclature as published by the World Customs Organization, HS 2022 edition. It is a classification reference, not a tariff: it carries no duty rates, and it stops at six digits — the importing country adds its own beyond that.
Classification is decided by the General Rules of Interpretation and the section and chapter notes, and it is the importing country’s customs authority that makes it binding.
Shipping goods from chapter 89? A customs hold shows up as a milestone that stops moving — follow the container or the air waybill from departure to delivery.
Track a shipmentChapter 89 FAQ
Chapter 89 covers ships, boats and floating structures: vessels of every kind from cargo ships to yachts to floating docks, plus their associated equipment. Classification tip: Vessel classification splits by function (cargo, fishing, pleasure, tug) and by propulsion, and importing a vessel usually also triggers flagging, registration and marine-safety requirements well beyond the HS code itself.
Pick the heading below that describes the goods, then the six-digit subheading under it. Six digits is the level the Harmonized System defines and the level customs everywhere recognises; anything beyond that is added by the importing country.
The General Rules of Interpretation, read together with the notes to Section XVII and to chapter 89. A description that reads right is not enough on its own — the notes routinely pull goods out of the chapter they obviously belong to and put them somewhere else. Where duty or licensing turns on the answer, ask the importing country’s customs authority for a binding ruling.
A wrong or missing code is one of the common reasons customs holds a container, and a hold shows up as a milestone that stops moving. Watch for it in the container tracking app, on the air waybill in the air cargo tracker, or through the tracking API.