(a) The commanding officer or aircraft commander shall facilitate any proper examination which it may be the duty of a customs officer or immigration officer of the United States to make on board the ship or aircraft. The commanding officer or air craft commander shall not permit a foreign customs officer or an immigration officer to make any examination whatsoever, except as hereinafter provided, on board the ship, aircraft or boats under his or her command.
(b) When a ship or aircraft of the Navy or a public vessel manned by naval personnel and operating under the direction of the Department of the Navy is carrying cargo for private commercial account, such cargo shall be subject to the local customs regulations of the port, domestic or foreign, in which the ship or aircraft may be, and in all matters relating to such cargo, the procedure prescribed for private merchant vessels and aircraft shall be followed. Government-owned stores or cargo in such ship or aircraft not landed nor intended to be landed nor in any manner trafficked in, are, by the established precedent of international courtesy, exempt from customs duties, but a declaration of such stores or cargo, when required by local customs regulations, shall be made. Commanding officers shall prevent, as far as possible, disputes with the local authorities in such cases, but shall protect the ship or aircraft and the Government-owned stores and cargo from any search or seizure.
(c) Upon arrival from a foreign country, at the first port of entry in United States territory, the commanding officer, or the senior officer of ships or aircraft in company, shall notify the collector of the port. Each individual aboard shall, in accordance with customs regulations, submit a list of articles purchased or otherwise acquired by him abroad. Dutiable articles shall not be landed until the customs officer has completed his inspection.
(d) Commanding officers of naval vessels and aircraft transporting United States civilian and foreign military and civilian passengers shall satisfy themselves that the passenger clearance requirements of the Immigration and Naturalization Service are complied with upon arrival at points within the jurisdiction of the United States. Clearance for such passengers by an immigration officer is necessary upon arrival from foreign ports and at the completion of movements between any of the following: Continental United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), the Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or other outlying places subject to United States jurisdiction. Commanding officers, prior to arriving, shall advise the cognizant naval or civilian port authority of the aforementioned passengers aboard and shall detain them for clearance as required by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
(e) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to require delaying the movements of any ship or aircraft of the Navy in the performance of her assigned duty.
Special Circumstances/Ships in Naval Stations and Shipyards