angary, in international law, the right of belligerents to requisition for their use neutral merchant vessels, aircraft, and other means of transport that are within their territorial jurisdiction. Generally, the right of angary should be applied only in case of pressing need in time of war, and compensation is due to the neutral owner. The right of angary has, in effect, come to be extended to cover not only land and sea transport but also any kind of neutral property under the jurisdiction of a belligerent.
The right of angary was applied on several occasions during World Wars I and II. Thus, by proclamation of March 20, 1918, the president of the United States took over merchant vessels of Dutch registry lying in U.S. waters. Similar action was taken by Great Britain, France, and Italy. The United States in 1941, though formally still neutral, took over foreign vessels lying idle in its territorial waters but did so under a special right conferred by statute.
It has come to be recognized that the peacetime powers of expropriation grant adequate authority to seize and requisition property under the territorial jurisdiction of a belligerent state without having recourse to the right of angary.