Question 2953 Deck General

The correct answer is D) Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is the agency responsible for assigning an official number to a vessel in the United States. This official number, also known as a documentation number, is a unique identifier assigned to a vessel by the Coast Guard's National Vessel Documentation Center. This number must be displayed on the vessel and is used for various administrative and regulatory purposes, such as vessel registration and documentation. The other options are incorrect because the American Bureau of Shipping, the Treasury Department, and the Collector of Customs are not the agencies responsible for assigning official vessel numbers in the U.S. The Coast Guard is the sole authority for this task.