Boarding Party

A boarding party is the team a warship or coast-guard vessel sends aboard another ship to conduct a visit, query, search, or seizure under a recognized legal authority. The authority may be the right of visit under UNCLOS Article 110, a UN Security Council mandate, flag-state consent, a bilateral shiprider agreement, or self-defense. Composition typically pairs an enforcement element with a sweep and security element; a non-compliant boarding may use opposed methods. The legal basis, not the tactics, determines what the party may lawfully do once aboard.