embargo

embargo, a temporary arrest or injunction laid on ships or cargo to prevent their arrival or departure in time of war. An embargo can be general, affecting all ships of whatever nationality, or partial, in which only ships of certain nationalities are affected. Originally embargoes could be declared in anticipation of a declaration of war, a method used by many nations to detain ships belonging to the enemy that might be in port. However, in the Hague Convention of 1907, a clause laid down that it was desirable that ships in an enemy port on the outbreak of war should be allowed to depart freely but did not make it binding on the belligerent. A ship stopped by embargo may not be confiscated but only detained without compensation, and must be restored to its owners after the war. It was customary to give a respite to enemy merchant ships to leave port on the outbreak of war so that neither ship nor cargo is subject to embargo.