Not likely in this case. Their alleged destination was due North and they could have kept closer to the Arabian coastline.
The only other possiblility was that they were on a insertion/extraction and got busted. Surrendering was a matter of buying time for the skulkers.
What we should be worrying about is the possibliltiy that they grabbed some SEALs on Farsi Island and what is being done to those sailors since the Navy hasn’t acknowleged them.
There always is a cover story. I have a friend who was on the original river boats in Vietnam, (66-67). The boat he was on was around half the size the off shore model. He also thought it involved an insertion or planting listening devices, ect. We will never know.