On a related note, in a documentary screened in the UK on sunday, film was shown of a RN vessel which just happened across a skiff which had broken free of it's mooring to a captured oil tanker. On the skiff were clothes, money, food, RPGs and the obligitary AK-47s. It was clear the skiff was never meant to be cast adrift, the biggest sign being the frayed rope dragging along behind.
Equipment found in the skiff was left for the Somali's to collect, if they can hold their breath long enough, and the skiff itself sunk as a drifting vessel would be a "danger to shipping in the area".