In that case, it really wasn't an option. First of all, its unrealistic to expect 10 or so people out of 20+ to "do the right thing".
Second, as a sailor in the lifeboat, it would be your duty to save the others. The lifeboat in question contained 3 ships crew: the dying ship's captain, someone from engineering, and the first mate. The captain died, and was tossed, leaving the first mate as the only person who knew their position and how to navigate. Nobody else aboard had any boating expertise of note.
So, not only could he not abdicate his responsibility to save lives, he further could not self-sacrifice, since either decision would have caused more fatalities than deciding to abandon some of the wreck's initial survivors.