Pretty interesting video of a shotgun being used to dissuade some pirates from attacking a sailboat:
Apparently shotguns are the most 'universally legal' armament for boats abroad, and have been used against pirates on a few other occasions. Reportedly the spread of a shotgun also helps mitigate the challenging aiming issues of firing from a small boat thats bobbing on the sea while aiming at another boat thats bobbing up and down.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...irates.130642/