Prosecutors in Sicily have widened their investigation into the sinking of the super yacht Bayesian on August 19th.
Seven people died in the sinking during an early morning storm off the Sicilian coast, including yacht owner and tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18 year-old daughter Hannah.
Skipper James Cutfield ( 51) from New Zealand, engineer Tim Parker Eaton and crew member Matthew Griffith, who was on watch, are being investigated by Italian authorities.
This type of investigation under Italian law does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will follow.
In an interview with The Guardian, Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian’s manufacturer, Perini Navi, said he believed it was due to human error.
He says he reviewed weather bulletins and reviewed footage from surveillance cameras which captured the last moments of the yacht before sinking.
“The strong wind arrived at 3.50am,” he said in The Guardian.
“Up until that moment, the Bayesian was still anchored. From 3.50 to 4.03 am, the ship moved as it was dragged by the wind, tilting towards the side where there is a lateral hatch that leads to the garage [where jetskis, inflatables and other water sports kit is stored],”he said.
“In the garage, there is another door leading to the engine room. If that door was open, it means that water has also entered the engine room, causing the inevitable sinking,”he said.
Five of the seven who died were guests of Mr Lynch, following his acquittal in June on charges that he had inflated the value of a company he had founded when he had sold it to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011.
The 15 who were rescued included nine of the ten crew. Its chef, Canadian-Antiguan Recaldo Thomas, was among the seven who died, and his body was the first to be found.
A separate investigation is being carried out by Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, as the vessel was registered in Britain.
Read The Guardian here
