They were most likely given orders not to fire. It happened to us in Viet Nam. We sailed into a VC village with a full bird colonel aboard, we were ordered to stand by our guns but not to fire even if fired on. Being army sailors we weren’t that well disciplined. If one shot was fired at us we would have wiped a lot of people. Fortunately we weren’t fired on, all the incoming was in the form of rocks and veggies.
Most likely, they were given orders to surrender upon contact.
With sail to contact, being the previous order, above the bridge.