Tandem tow anyone?

CG Cutter Dependable's Crew Rescues 5 in Fla. Cape May County Herald:

Shortly before 4 p.m. Aug. 18, a commercial salvage company had been assisting two vessels that had reportedly run out of gas. Upon towing in one of the vessels, when the salvage company returned to tow the other vessel in they were unable to relocate the vessel and then notified the Coast Guard..... The crew of the Falcon located a 25-foot vessel with one person aboard and dropped food, water and a VHF marine radio. Upon establishing communication with the individual through the use of that radio, the person informed the Coast Guard that his vessel began taking on water the last evening and four persons abandoned the vessel around midnight.

I don't know any details about this case other than what is written in this article, but from what is reported, this sounds like a tandem tow might have been a good solution. This could have had very tragic results. Anyone out there know the details?