The urgency of the so called "rescue" was determined by the Russian Captain who sent out a distress signal. International law dictates that anyone with the capacity to respond must do so, so the Chinese & Australians interrupted their programs to help out even though over Skype the passengers who needed rescue were telling the world that they're fine for weeks yet. Did the Russian Captain know something about the structural integrity of his ship that we didn't know? Who knows, but from the outside looking in it certainly seems as though a simple phone call to ask for help at the earliest convenience would have been more appropriate than a distress call. At least that would have given the RSV Aurora Australis the option of completing the Casey resupply (an extra few days) & picking up the tourists on the way home.
The Aurora Australis itself has spent 5 weeks total this season stuck in pack ice with not a distress call to be heard. Slow news day, much ado about nothing me thinks.