They send out distresss signals as soon as possible, there is no intention for the original craft to get anywhere near shore, only the nearest poor dupe of a merchant vessel.
Far from it this is costing ship operators, owners, managers and charterers fortunes but because of ethics no one will stop picking them up even when they know it's a scam. You could not be more wrong, or do a bigger disservice to people on these ships sucked into this cynical scam, if you...
merchant ships are picking up migrants in the med constantly. They have to answer distress calls. This is the biggest scam going and every bleeding heart thinks it's because they are just unseaworthy and desperate. This is well organised and cynical.