Oren wrote:

I always found it strange that there wasn't enough wood or other
light-weight materials onboard that could have been scavanged to
make ad-hoc rafts or other floatation aids.

Almost all of those in the water died of hypothermia or cardiac
arrest within minutes or drowned"

A floatation aid wouldn't help....

Have you seen what the inside of that ship looked like?

They must have used several forests worth of wood.

Last I heard, wood floats...