Captain of Bayesian superyacht ‘investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck’
Italian prosecutors will investigate the captain of Mike Lynch’s superyacht, which sank off Sicily during an intense storm last week, killing the British tech tycoon and six others, Italian media reported on Monday.
James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealand national, is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck, the dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera said.
Magistrates spoke to Mr Cutfield for the second time in a week on Sunday, questioning him for more than two hours, la Repubblica reported.
It said prosecutors may also investigate a crew member who was on duty when the storm hit and survived the sinking.
The Bayesian was carrying 22 people when it capsized and sank last Monday within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm while anchored off northern Sicily.
Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was among those who died. Fifteen people survived, including Mr Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the Bayesian.
While the yacht had been hit by a sudden meteorological event, it was plausible that crimes of multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence had been committed, Ambrogio Cartosio, the head of the public prosecutor’s office of Termini Imerese, said on Saturday.
Maritime law gives a captain full responsibility for the ship, crew, and all on board.
Mr Cutfield and his eight surviving crew members have not yet made public comment on the disaster.
“The Bayesian was built to go to sea in any weather,” Franco Romani, a nautical architect who was part of the team that designed the vessel, told daily La Stampa in an interview published on Monday.
Mr Romani said it was likely that the yacht had taken on water from a side hatch that was left open. He said the crew underestimated the bad weather and should have made sure all openings had been shut and the anchor removed before the storm hit the boat.
