All the british Ferrys for P&O are half payed for in grants off the goverment and have war roles. They have to responed to and have to do training for emergency rescues. And all boats in British waters have to respond to a call an emergency on channel 16 and they had better have a very good reason to refuse to help.
It's good to see the lie sometimes seen in the flying comics debunked here. (I've seen it written that if you have choice, ditching near a ferry is not recommended as they have schedules to keep).
Working on one of the above, I have first hand experience of the maritime efforts made when anything even remotely suspected to be a MOB or equivalent is reported. A passenger
thinks he has seen an orange lifejacketed blob in the water: the whole circus reacts immediately.
As non-swimming proof of the efficacy of a life jacket, I'll take anything that I can get into the aeroplane, which amounts to not a lot. Flying in company with another aircraft helps too, even if it has absolutely no effect on the engine/visibility/skill level.
Flying incurs some risk. So does everything else. Pilots possibly perform more risk assessment than most and having done so, should go and have fun.