Now let's make an assumption here....water temp 54 degrees F, air temp about 36 degrees F....no immersion suit, no life raft, but issue inflatable life vests deployed.
Position reports due every 15 minutes....but not followed up upon immediately.....and in this case....after local efforts failed to locate the aircraft on an 18 mile flight from its base.....at approximately two hours after the aircraft went missing....the Search Call is issued.
Response time for the USCG....probably 15-30 minutes.....
Oh.....what was your expected survival time at the outset in this situation.....oh yeah....about 15 minutes!
Do I see a slight problem in the Oil Company/Helicopter Operator logic here?