The boat was just off the harbour, and ran out of fuel. It made non-emergency requests for assistance - not the same as a distress call. Vessels were not obliged to render assistance.

“Leaving them to die” is hysterical and hyperbolic, and a gross distortion of the facts. If you feel you have to go there, you’re implying even you don’t believe in your premise. It’s like berating motorists for driving past a car with a flat tyre a few hundred metres from a tyre shop and claiming they’re leaving the broken down motorist to die. Silly.