The public prosecutor’s office of Termini Imerese has opened a manslaughter investigation into the sinking of a luxury yacht off Sicily that claimed seven lives, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch and his daughter.
Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio announced the inquiry at a news conference, stating it is not currently aimed at any specific individual.
The fifty-six-meter (one hundred eighty-four-foot) yacht, Bayesian, capsized during a pre-dawn storm on Monday near Porticello, Palermo. Among the deceased were Lynch, fifty-nine, and his eighteen-year-old daughter, Hannah. Fifteen people survived, including Lynch’s wife and the yacht’s captain, James Cutfield.
Authorities have questioned Cutfield and other survivors. Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano reported that Cutfield has been “extremely cooperative” during questioning.
Investigators are considering salvaging the Bayesian, which lies intact on its side at a depth of fifty meters (one hundred sixty-four feet). Cartosio stated that while there is no legal obligation for survivors to remain in Italy, authorities expect their continued cooperation.
The sinking has puzzled marine experts, who question how a vessel of the Bayesian’s caliber could succumb so quickly to the storm. Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the yacht’s manufacturer Perini, told Reuters the incident resulted from “indescribable, unreasonable errors” by the crew, ruling out design or construction flaws.
Prosecutor Cammarano suggested passengers were likely asleep when the storm hit, explaining their failure to escape.
Divers recovered the last body, that of Hannah Lynch, on Friday. The other victims included Lynch’s lawyer Chris Morvillo and Morgan Stanley banker Jonathan Bloomer, who had testified as a character witness in Lynch’s recent U.S. fraud trial.
Lynch, one of the UK’s prominent tech entrepreneurs, had been celebrating his June acquittal in the fraud case when the tragedy occurred.
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the yacht’s sinking, with the potential salvage operation expected to provide crucial evidence.
