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15.13.4 Procedure for Visit and Search of Merchant Vessels and Aircraft. BelligerentStates have discretion in formulating their procedures for conducting the visit and search ofneutral merchant vessels and aircraft. 263 Generally, the belligerent warship or aircraft visits orintercepts the vessel or aircraft, shows its true colors, and provides a clear signal to the merchantvessel or civil aircraft that it is expected to submit to visit and search. 264During armed conflict, specific rules of engagement or other special instructions may beissued by the operational chain of command to provide guidance on the visit and searchprocedure to be carried out by U.S. warships and military aircraft when exercising the belligerentState’s right of visit and search of merchant vessels and civil aircraft. For example, the issuanceof certificates of non-contraband carriage may be part of such procedures. 265 In the absence ofspecific guidance from the operational chain of command, Military Department or Serviceregulations or guidance may provide the applicable procedures. 26615.13.4.1 Use of Force During Visit and Search. Merchant vessels or civilaircraft that comply with instructions given to them may not be made the object of attack;merchant ships or civil aircraft that refuse to comply may be stopped by force. 267 Merchantships or civil aircraft that resist visit and search assume the risk of resulting damage. 268 Such263 TUCKER, THE LAW OF WAR AND NEUTRALITY AT SEA 336 (“Customary international law does not lay downdetailed rules governing the mode of conducting visit and search and belligerents have always enjoyed a certaindiscretion in this regard. In general, however, a substantial measure of uniformity came to characterize thetraditional practices of states, and this uniformity was reflected in the special instructions issued by maritime powersto their naval forces.”).264 TUCKER, THE LAW OF WAR AND NEUTRALITY AT SEA 336 (“Before calling upon a neutral merchantman tosubmit to visitation a belligerent warship is required to show its true colors. In addition, visitation must be precededby a clear signal on the part of the warship that the merchant vessel is expected to stop and bring to. Thenotification of intention to visit may be accomplished by any of several means, e. g., by firing a blank charge, byinternational flag signal, or even by radio. Nor does international law prescribe the distance a belligerent warshipmust keep from the vessel being visited, which may vary according to the conditions of the sea, the size andcharacter of the visiting warship, and many other factors.”).265 Refer to § 15.12.3 (Certificate of Noncontraband Carriage).266 See, e.g., 2007 NWP 1-14M 7.6.1 (“In the absence of specific rules of engagement or other special instructionsissued by the operational chain of command during a period of armed conflict, the following procedure should becarried out by U.S. warships exercising the belligerent right of visit and search of merchant vessels:”).267 1928 PAN AMERICAN MARITIME NEUTRALITY CONVENTION art. 1(1) (“If the merchant ship does not heed thesignal to stop, it may be pursued by the warship and stopped by force; outside of such a case the ship cannot beattacked unless, after being hailed, it fails to observe the instructions given it.”).268 See Eleanor, 15 U.S. 345, 358 (1817) (“To detain for examination is a right which a belligerant may exercise overevery vessel, not a national vessel, that he meets with on the ocean. And whatever may be the injury that casuallyresults to an individual from the act of another while pursuing the reasonable exercise of an established right, it is hismisfortune. The law pronounces it damnum absque injuria, and the individual from whose act it proceeds is liableneither at law nor in the forum of conscience. And the principal right necessarily carries with it also all the meansessential to its exercise. Thus, in the present case, a vessel must be pursued in order to be detained for examination.But if in the pursuit she had been dismasted, and upset or stranded, or run on shore and lost, it would have been anunfortunate case, but the pursuing vessel would have stood acquitted.”).976