Investigators have placed the responsibility on the crew rather than a storm for the sinking of Mike Lynch’s Bayesian superyacht.
Seven people were killed when the £30 million ship collapsed off the coast of Sicily in August 2024, including the British tech billionaire and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Italian prosecutors hired specialists to investigate whether the disaster was caused by an unusual weather phenomenon that witnesses referred to as a “tornado.”
The crew should have been able to handle what the study described as “little more than a squall, a sudden increase in wind speed that precedes thunderstorms and downpours.”
The 184-foot yacht capsized and sank as a result of the crew’s poor actions, their underestimate of the weather, and the wrong activation of several safety mechanisms, according to the preliminary results.
The investigation is looking into potential criminal charges against the yacht’s captain and two crew members, including multiple counts of manslaughter and negligent shipwreck.
Additionally, it has increased the likelihood that the superyacht’s constructor will be held liable.
When Bayesian sank in a rare storm in 2024, seven people perished, including tech millionaire Mike Lynch (right) and his daughter Hannah (left).
On August 19, 2024, the superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily. It appears to be drawn to the surface.
After being struck by a powerful storm with gusts of up to 100 mph, the Bayesian went down in just 16 minutes off the coast of the Sicilian fishing community of Porticello.
While his wife, Angela Bacares, and ten crew members were saved, Mr. Lynch was on board with eleven guests, including his daughter, who perished.
Recaldo Thomas, the chef at Bayesian, Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy, as well as Chris Morvillo, the attorney for Mr. Lynch, and his wife Neda Morvillo, were the additional casualties.
Italian Sea Group (TISG), the yacht’s owner, has sued Mr. Lynch’s widow for £400 million, alleging the company lost revenues as a result of the accident, and has blamed the crew for the drowning.
Giovanni Costantino, an Italian yachting tycoon and the majority owner of TISG, insisted that the boat was “unsinkable” and blamed the accident on August 19, 2024, for the crew’s carelessness and inexperience.
He claimed that despite being highly broadcast, weather warnings were disregarded and that doors and portholes were not fastened.
Additionally, Mr Costantino stated that there was enough time for the crew and guests to be saved because the yacht took 16 minutes to sink.
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In the town of Termini Imerese on Sicily’s northern coast, his company has now filed a lawsuit, claiming that it has lost millions as a result of being held accountable for the catastrophe.
“This claim is as cynical as it is predictable,” a source close to the Lynch family told the Daily Mail at the time.Serious, unanswered questions concerning the yacht’s construction, stability, and operational features—including vulnerabilities that the owner and crew were unaware of—have been brought up by the UK investigation.
This action seems to be intended to divert attention from those problems, but it won’t stop a thorough examination of the vessel’s design, approval, and construction. It is in poor faith, opportunistic, and desperate.
British authorities discovered last year that the superyacht’s crew was “unaware” of its “vulnerabilities” to severe winds, which led to its overturning and sinking.
The boat was doomed, according to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, after it was struck by gusts of 80.6 mph, which caused it to suddenly tip on its side and prevent it from straightening as the rare storm struck.
According to the MAIB’s assessment, the skipper and crew would not have known about the yacht’s vulnerabilities because they were not listed in the onboard stability information booklet.
The possibility of it being cleared out was raised in March when Mr. Lynch’s estate was forced to pay Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $1.24 billion (£930 million) in damages.
While his wife, Angela Bacares, and ten crew members were saved, Mr. Lynch was on board with eleven guests, including his daughter, who perished.
The Bayesian, shown on the left, anchored close to Porticello to seek refuge from the predicted storms before capsizing and sinking off the coast of Sicily.
For the illegal 2011 sale of Mr. Lynch’s software company, Autonomy, a High Court judge determined that HPE was entitled to the amount in damages and interest.
Before being found not guilty, Mr. Lynch was imprisoned on US criminal fraud allegations pertaining to the Autonomy transaction.
He planned to celebrate his legal victory with his disastrous journey on the Bayesian.
Ms. Bacares said in a statement released last year that she felt the Bayesian “moving up and down and swaying,” which led her to search for the captain, James Cutfield of New Zealand, on the upper deck.
But until “something catastrophic happened” and everything changed in an instant, she did not believe they were in a “serious situation” and had not felt the need to warn the other passengers.
“I think something catastrophic happened to make the boat roll over, but it was all very sudden,” she continued.
