In recent years, piracy is mainly manifested by hijacking cargo and hostages and then demanding ransom. It has become a common practice for shipowners to negotiate with pirates and then pay ransom, which also makes it a new controversial point whether the operating expenses of the vessel during the negotiation with pirates can be attributed to general average. In 2017, the decision of the British Supreme Court in the Longchamp Case identified the operating expenses of the vessel during the negotiation with pirates as substitute costs. The judgment has some problems in practice and theory, which is not really conducive to solving the series of problems of pirate ransom. The operating expenses of the vessel during the negotiation with the pirates should be defined as general average, which is feasible both in theory and in practice, and can more effectively solve a series of problems caused by the pirates’ransom.