The US military has satellites & other new technology which can read a car number plate in a Baghdad street. It can also detect that the North Koreans failed to put a satellite (about the size of a piece of bedroom furniture) into orbit. Yet for some reason they cannot track vessels being loaded up with weapons by pirates in East African ports & then leaving to attack merchant ships in the sea lanes off the coast?

The way this situation should be handled is as follows: The pirates holding the captain hostage should be informed that they have 15 minutes to release their illegally held hostage or the captain will be rescued using whatever level of lethal force the US Naval special forces personnel on site deem necessary. The pirates would then be informed that piracy under international law is classified, as it is, as a "crime against humanity" which means they have little or no legal basis for defence in a court of law. Any harm coming to the captain they are holding will result in said pirates being killed on the spot by the US special forces personnel on site. If the captain dies as a result of the pirates' unlawful activity, and any of them survive the rescue attempt by US personnel, they will be taken aboard the US naval vessel present, tried under international law on the spot, and summarily hanged, as "enemies against humanity" with no legal recourse under international maritime law.