It is a curious aspect of upcoming (we all hope) fighting system. While devs might have a point on that, during the stream I've noticed that there might be no solution on knarr fighting yet. So, I'd like to concentrate on it for now.
What I'd like to suggest is the attack direction for each "slot" of the ship. Basically, it will turn naval fights into something similar to Sid Meyer's "Pirates!" or "Corsairs" where you can "shoot" from one side of your ship, then make a turn a "shoot" from another. But in this case your team siting on the ship's side will have to perform their attacks on their own. Cooldowns on attacks will force captain to turn the ship and use the opposite side, and also it will force people to take their places on the ship in a balanced way - on both sides - or all-in for one side. This system kinda continues the direction/movement-based system and also implies a coordination between attackers and their captain.
And with those mythical "object-controlled objects"... Damn, son.
Also, feel free to post your thoughts on smaller boats fighting as well