I believe the chances of Dirk originally being on any given deck is 1 in 3. What happened to the other 13 lifeboats? Do we assume that all lifeboats were filled, not caring from which deck? If any of them sank, was Dirk lost? Since Dirk was apparently not on either of the two boats mentioned, then there would be a 1/15 chance of him having been on A, and a 1/25 chance of him having been on either B or C.
Apparently, amateur pyschiatry does not count as highjacking? Methinks the pot doth attempt to blacken the kettle.
I did slip and break my self-imposed rule about no longer giving the association of the "close" (a term which begs definition) number, as it is - as you say - entirely meaningless.
Let's get back to Krags. How is the book coming?