So I think it'd be a cool idea if, instead of spawning directly on your ship after you die, you can choose to spawn on the nearest island or a random outpost but never directly on the ship.
Why? So other players can take it, of course. If their ship gets sunken, this gives them a last-ditch chance to take over someone else's. Maybe they want the ship with whatever's on it. Maybe they just think yours looks cooler.
To make it so the player who lost their ship isn't stranded, give them the choice to spawn at an outpost and rent a base model sloop for free. They can go off and just live with the sloop until their ship is no longer commandeered, or they can go hunt for their ship back.
Commandeering ships was a huge part of piracy, and I think adding this would add a really cool dimension to the game play.
