[OT] Ping Adam

A question about Jewish policies with respect to interment.
I've been under the impression that it is Jewish tradition to bury the dead within 24 hours of death and that no other approach - e.g. cremation - is cool.
Imagine my surprise when I read a passage in a novel where a main character who is ethnically Jewish - there is no evidence of him practicing Judaism in the book - dies suddenly of an apparent cerebral hemorrhage and his wife tells the captain of the boat they are sailing on - which she owns - not to go to shore and report to authorities so they can perform an autopsy. Rather, they are burying him at sea that same day at sunset. There were absolutely NO suspicious circumstances and she is most definitely NOT trying to cover anything up.
Would such an end be "problematic" in any way - socially, religiously, etc. - in real life for Jews?
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Rhino