I guess I'm not sure what you expect the Navy to do when the pirates have a gun to the captains head. The part that disturbs me is that the pirates were able to communicate with and get other pirates to help them out. Now the situation is far more complicated. Had just paid them off (even used fake money), once they let the captain go, they could have blown the dingy out of the water. That's what I would have done.

But now that other pirates are involved, that option is gone, because any action taken by the Navy will likely result in other hostage deaths. I don't understand why they couldn't have jammed their communication, but then maybe they just simply didn't have that capability.

Now that I've read a little further, I am seriously dissapointed that the Navy couldn't have just wiped out the pirates, the moment the captain jumped overboard. That would have been the moment to do it. But then they would have had to have gunman and snipers on board at the exact moment the captain made his apparently surprise decisions and it's not likely they even had anyone board with those skills or armed, much less ready to go at that moment to engage multiple pirates. Maybe they should have. I'm also guessing he jumped overboard at night, when they started to drift off to sleep, so that option would have been even less effective.

At least they aren't letting them take the captain away from the ship, like they want. That would mean almost certain death for the captain.

What a horrible situation. We can monday quarterback it all day long. This is essentially a no win situation for the navy and I don't see too many other options other than stalling them as long as possible and hoping that they surrender due to fatigue or can be out smarted in some way.

Did you hear about the how the ships were traveling at reduced speed to save money also? I tend to wonder if once they were under attack, which included several failed attempts to board, if the ship revved up the engines and attempted to escape at full speed or at least make boarding harder.

Another thing, there are non-leathal weapons available for these crews, such a focussed sound guns that are very, very effective at deterring attackers. They work much better than water cannons.

By the way, I'll bet this captain has one hellva story to tell. Probably allowed himself to be captured so the rest of his men could escape.