....
If there are a lot of these events, governments are going to balk at some
point at the cost....
Draconian government intervention is probably way off, maybe forever due to
the small number of cruisers getting into trouble. ...

For a while New Zealand was requiring all small vessels leaving the
country to pass an inspection as a direct response to the costs of
rescuing yachts off shore. New Zealand is, perhaps, unique in that
visiting foreign yachts contribute significantly to the national
economy and because of this and the lobbying of both businesses and
yachties the government amended the law to only cover New Zealand
yachts. So, I would not be too sanguine about governments staying out
of this.

Still, you have to ask
yourself about the ethics of setting off six or seven figures worth of
stranger's risking their lives when you get into trouble doing something
utterly discretionary.

Yeah, but is routing a car carrier to the Bearing Sea to save a few
grand worth of bunker more or less discretionary than going for a
cruise?

... One interpretation of the rules is that the ship maintain the best
lookout possible with the equipment and personnel on board. I'm sure Donna
Lange is doing just that. ...

The Coast Guard officer who advised me when I was applying for my
master's ticket was very specific that the US interpretation is that
working more than 12 hours a day was illegal. Do you have any reason
to believe that there is a national authority anywhere that agrees with
your interpretation?

-- Tom