Kiwi captain James Cutfield and the sunken Bayesian superyacht owned by tech tycoon Mike Lynch. Photo / Supplied
Kiwi captain James Cutfield and the sunken Bayesian superyacht owned by tech tycoon Mike Lynch. Photo / Supplied
A superyacht owned by Mike Lynch capsized off Sicily due to design flaws and crew unawareness.
The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch found wind speeds over 63.4 knots caused the capsize.
Italian prosecutors are investigating the captain and crew for potential manslaughter and causing a shipwreck.
A super yacht owned by tech tycoon Mike Lynch capsized off the coast of Sicily because of design flaws and the captain and crew having no knowledge of its vulnerabilities, British investigators believe.
A preliminary report published on Thursday by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) runs counter to claims by the builders of the Bayesian that it was “unsinkable” and that the tragedy, in which seven people died, must have been caused by human error.
Investigators said the design weaknesses combined with a freak storm of almost tornado intensity and 70-knot winds to capsize the 56m-long (184ft) vessel off the north coast of Sicily on the night of August 18 last year.
It was hit by a meteorological phenomenon known as a downburst – a powerful downward column of wind and rain.
The other victims included Recaldo Thomas, the ship’s Antiguan-Canadian chef, Jonathan Bloomer, the Morgan Stanley International bank chairman, and his wife, Judy Bloomer. Chris Morvillo, a Clifford Chance lawyer, and his wife, Neda Morvillo, also died.
Tech tycoon Mike Lynch died along with his daughter and five others in a capsized superyacht. Photo / Getty Images
The MAIB’s report comes after it dispatched four experts to Sicily in the days after the sinking.
The chief executive of The Italian Sea Group, the parent company of the Perini Navi shipyard, which built the yacht in 2008, has insisted that it was unsinkable and that the incident must have been the fault of the skipper, New Zealander James Cutfield, and his crew, which included several British citizens.
Giovanni Costantino blamed the disaster on a chain of “indescribable, unreasonable errors” by the crew, and ruled out any design or construction flaws. He alleged that a hatch in the hull must have been left open.
Wind speeds ‘sufficient to knock yacht over’
However, British investigators said that once the gale-force winds had pushed the yacht over to a certain angle, there was no hope for it.
“The investigation has established that … once Bayesian heeled over to an angle greater than 70.6 degrees (the angle of vanishing stability [AVS]) there was no chance of a return to an even keel,” the MAIB said in its report.
The AVS is the angle of heel (lean or tilt) at which a vessel may capsize, rather than naturally righting itself.
The report added: “The investigation has also established that … wind speeds in excess of 63.4 knots on the beam were sufficient to knock Bayesian over. It is possible that Bayesian was similarly vulnerable to winds of less than 63.4 knots.”
An infographic on the recovery of sunken Bayesian superyacht that sank off Sicily last year. Photo / Getty Images
The alleged weaknesses in the design of the yacht were not included in its stability information booklet, a form of operating manual for a captain which sets out a vessel’s physical limits, the British investigators said.
They added: “Consequently, these vulnerabilities were also unknown to either the owner or the crew of Bayesian.”
The report said that a study by the UK’s Met Office of the weather conditions on the night of the tragedy “indicated the probable transient presence of hurricane force winds well in excess of 64 knots at the time of the accident”.
It added: “These winds were sufficient to knock Bayesian beyond its angle of vanishing stability.”
The investigators also described the terrifying ordeal of the passengers and crew as the Bayesian “violently heeled over to 90 degrees to starboard, taking less than 15 seconds to do so. People, furniture, and loose items fell across the deck.”
As well as those who died, several people were injured by flying debris while others were thrown into the sea.
In addition to the MAIB report, Italian prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation.
Those being investigated are Cutfield, the skipper, as well as two British crew members, Tim Parker Eaton and Matthew Griffiths, for potential manslaughter and causing a shipwreck.
Under the Italian legal system, this does not imply guilt and does not necessarily mean charges will be brought.
The vessel is due to be raised from the seabed by a consortium of salvage experts in the next few weeks. It is lying at a depth of nearly 50m, half a mile from the fishing town of Porticello.
Wreck removal efforts continue for the sunken luxury yacht, Bayesian, in Italy. Photo / Getty Images
However, the operation has been delayed after the death last week of a 39-year-old Dutch diver during preparations for the recovery work.
The consortium chosen to salvage the Bayesian, led by TMC Marine, a UK-based consultancy, and featuring a joint venture between Dutch companies HEBO Maritiemservice and Smit Salvage, plans to cut the mast before raising the vessel.
Once they have done so, the Bayesian is expected to be examined by Italian prosecutors as a key piece of evidence.
An underwater robot has already surveyed the yacht and its tanks, which contain 18,000 litres of diesel.
The vessel is expected to be brought to the surface by HEBO Lift 10, one of Europe’s most powerful floating cranes, and then taken to Termini Imerese, about 40km east of Palermo.
Maritime experts said that while the Bayesian’s design was approved by the relevant authorities, such as the American Bureau of Shipping, it appeared to be vulnerable to heeling and downflooding.
They also fear that Italian prosecutors are bent on “completely screwing the captain and the crew”, as one sailing veteran put it.
At least one photograph, which was taken shortly before the vessel sank, as well as underwater footage, appears to back up the crew’s insistence that the main hatch was closed.
The Italian Sea Group denies any structural weakness in the yacht’s design and stresses that the vessel complied with UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency stability criteria.
The company said the crew should have closed “all openings” as soon as the weather deteriorated and should have summoned all passengers to the muster point above deck.
