Could you imagine what would be going through one of our commanders faced with a similar decision? Consider the crap those guys got after the pirate attack a few years ago. Lay on the Benghazi episode, add in the possible environment damage and bake that all in. The timeline would be over a week at least before “permission” to fire came and by then they would be MIA.
The lives of the crew members and the safety of the ship,the weight of those responsibilities must be a crushing burden for a Captain these days.