Prosecutors in Italy say the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily, that left seven people dead, could results in charges of manslaughter and negligent shipwreck.
Speaking to journalists, Ambrogio Cartosio, public prosecutor in the town of Termini Imerese, where the 56-meter long yacht owned by British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch went down, said “persons unknown” were being looked at, and names could soon be made public.
“It could be that we add someone to the list of people being investigated even way before the recovery of the boat,” he said.
“It seems to me likely that offences of negligent shipwreck and manslaughter have been committed. It’s about establishing who they can be ascribed to.”
The yacht had 22 people on board when it was caught up in extremely violent winds during the early hours of August 19, and 15 people, including all but one of the crew, managed to escape. The other seven people on board, including Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of Morgan Stanley international bank, died.
The Financial Times newspaper reports that the boat went down rear first, suggesting that compartments at the back of the boat may have become flooded.
Deputy prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said the boat had been caught up in a “truly rapid, sudden” storm, and there are reports that the wind reached force 12 on the Beaufort scale, which is hurricane strength. In his only public comment so far, the ship’s captain James Cutfield said “we didn’t see it coming” when talking about the change of weather, but the chief of the company that built the boat, Giovanni Costantino, told the BBC human error must be a factor in what had happened.
“At the back of the boat, a hatch must have been left open,” he said, “but also perhaps a side entrance for water to have poured inside.
“Before the storm, the captain should have closed every opening, lifted anchor, turned on the engine, pointed into the wind and lowered the keel.
“The Bayesian was a model for many other vessels because of its stability and exceptionally high performance… there was absolutely no problem with it. If water hadn’t surged in, it was unsinkable.”
The vessel, whose tanks are still full of fuel, is now lying 49 meters below the surface and to avoid damage to the boat caused by the water that has built up inside it, the recovery process could take as long as two months and cost up to 15 million euros ($16.7 million).
“This is the most delicate part of the operation and needs to be done very, very slowly, because the Bayesian is full of water,” marine salvage engineer Nick Sloane told the Daily Telegraph newspaper, adding that around said 40 expert divers would be needed.
“The important thing is that when the yacht reaches the surface the sea must be calm. So they’ll have to carefully check the weather forecasts. The yacht should be recovered exactly as it is, in one piece, with the aim of maintaining it as intact as possible.”
