RMS Gigantic and Mattew, I suggest you read the posts before yours, cause this has been answered.
My opinion is that it will not have much meaning to controle all lifeboats, but an idea could be that you could give a command that everyone should go in the lifeboats and they will be lowered. Then you have controle over one and the others will follow you when you start to move away. But I think that will never happen in this version of the game. As it will be after the new update have been installed so will the lifeboats go down with the ship if the ship sinks, this lifeboats will be like many other things in this game, something for the eye, a visual thing. But it is better to have them there and let them go down with the ship than have it like it is now.