Italian authorities have launched a manslaughter investigation into the captain of the luxury Bayesian sailing yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily last week in a wreck that killed seven people, including Britsh tech entrepreneur Michael Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, and Morgan Stanley International director Jonathan Bloomer.
Italian Coast Guards take part in searches of missing off Porticello near Palermo, on Aug. 21, 2024.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- Italian prosecutors will investigate James Cutfield, the captain of the Bayesian, for manslaughter after the ship sank in rough weather overnight on Aug. 18, multiple outlets reported Monday.
- The investigation will look into if the crew of the ship appropriately handled the storm that hit the yacht before it capsized, if passengers were warned of imminent danger and if hatches on the ship were left ajar, which would have contributed to its quick sinking.
- As part of the probe, the ship will be raised from the waters in which it sank later this year, CNN reported, at the cost of registered owner Angela Bacares, the wife and mother, respectively, of victims Michael and Hannah Lynch.
- The Bayesian, named for a mathematical theory, is currently about 50 meters (164 feet) below the surface near the port of Porticello in Sicily, Italy, and sank less than a minute after it capsized.
- Officials have said the passengers who died—Michael and Hannah Lynch, Jonathan and Judy Bloomer and Chris and Neda Morvillo—were likely asleep at the time of the sinking.
- Notices of investigations into an incident must be issued in Italy before autopsies can be done on victims, Reuters reported, and the opening of a probe does not necessarily mean formal charges will follow.
Key Background
The Bayesian is a 184-foot luxury sailing yacht with a 246-foot aluminum mast—the tallest of its kind in the world. It is legally owned by Bacares and her late husband “had a lot of pride” in his yacht, a staff member told The Times of London. The Lynch/Bacares family was on board with seven guests and the boat was anchored when a storm hit overnight on Sunday, Aug. 18.
The harsh weather included a “waterspout,” a tornado-like swirling column of air and water, that caused the vessel to top over and it was then quickly dragged underwater. Of the 10 passengers, six died in the capsizing and their bodies were recovered last week. There were also 12 crew members on board and one, Recaldo Thomas, also died.
Among those resued were Bacares; Charlotte Golunski, a partner at Lynch’s Invoke Capital, along with her partner and her baby daughter; lawyer Ayla Ronald and her partner.
Tangent
Lynch, Bloomer and Morvillo were all involved in a massive fraud trial that saw Hewlett-Packard accuse Lynch and others of artificially inflating the value of his software company, Autonomy, before HP purchased it in 2011.
Lynch was indicted for conspiracy and wire fraud in the sale but was acquitted alongside his co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain, who was killed in a car crash in the U.K. the same weekend the Bayesian sank in Italy. Bloomer testified for the defense at Lynch’s trial, according to the Associated Press, and Morvillo was one of the lawyers on the case.
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