The plaintiff’s wooden boat, the Ship Ship Hooray, could not dock at East Beach-Bay Marine Marina (the Marina), because the Marina alleged that it did not accept wooden boats. However, the plaintiff found that other wooden boats were docked there at the time. One of the plaintiff’s various claims was that the Marina's act of ordering the plaintiff to leave and forcing the plaintiff to abandon the boat and its belongings constituted an act of piracy. The Marina filed a motion to dismiss.

Held: Motion granted.

According to 18 USC § 1651, the crime of piracy is defined by the law of nations.

Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) defines piracy as '(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft'. The plaintiff's ship was docked at a marina in Virginia territorial waters, which was not on the 'high seas'. In addition, the Marina could legally obtain the title to the plaintiff's boat and its belongings according to the legal acts of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Therefore, the ship was not the private property of the plaintiff during the incident. The plaintiff failed to establish the elements of piracy.