Will the UAVs be able to make decisions to amend the search area based on the actual (rather than predicted) conditions on scene, local knowledge of tides and races etc?
Just because it looks new and shiny and AI is the new religion for techno investors, doesn't make this a good or practical idea.
The UAVs are operated by humans with downlink. Trained operators, maybe even pilots, perhaps with much SAR experience but sitting in an environment with a bigger capacity seat than a helicopter.
The technology has been used to search for humans for a while now, difference being most of them didn’t want to be found because they ended up getting lifted or waxed.