Robbery of a Foreign Ship

Three sailors were charged with piracy. The charge said they attacked a Spanish merchant ship on the high seas and robbed it of sugar, rum, coffee, hides and precious metals worth about ninety thousand dollars. The ship and its crew were entirely foreign. The federal piracy law made robbery on the high seas a capital crime. The dispute was about how far that law reaches. Does it cover a robbery aboard a ship that belongs wholly to people of a foreign country? The judges below could not agree, so the question went up.