Another article indicated the reason why no great effort was expended to rescue them: "No other vessel had responded because of the couple’s remote location and also because, according to shipping officials, many captains are wary of distress calls due to piracy fears."
Daily Mail article Sue
Watch out! There's a crazy pirate captain making his boat go in circles!
(not making fun of you Sue, just laughing at the absurdity of avoiding contact for 40 days due to those fears)