Mike Lynch yacht sinking latest: Bayesian captain to be interrogated again by prosecutors in manslaughter probe

Hatches and doors left open overnight on the superyacht Bayesian may have caused it to sink in Italy, a sailing expert has said.

Sam Jefferson, editor of magazine Sailing Today, believes the vessel’s huge mast is also likely to have contributed to the deadly event.

Mr Jefferson told the PA news agency: “I would have said that the boat got hit very hard by the wind, it was pinned over on its side.

“I imagine all the doors were open because it was hot, so there were enough hatches and doors open that it filled with water very quickly and sank like that.

“The reason it got pinned over so hard was because the mast is huge.

“It acted almost like a sail. (It) pushed the boat hard over on its side.

“(The boat) filled with water before it could right.

“This is all speculation, but that’s the only logical explanation.”

Reports in Italy are emerging about the sunken Bayesian with divers from the coast guard beginning to film the wreck under the request of the prosecutor as the investigation gathers pace.

There are also concerns over the 18,000 litres of fuel and oil reportedly still on the boat.

Speaking to local outlet Corriere Della Sera, a fisherman said: “It is an environmental bomb at the bottom of our sea.”

In case you missed it over the bank holiday weekend, a mass for the victims of the Bayesian tragedy was held in Porticello on Sunday.

Flowers were also sent into the sea as a mark of tribute to those who died.

The Bayesian was built in 2008 by Perini Navi, an Italian luxury yacht maker. It featured the world’s tallest aluminium mast, measuring 72 metres, but early reports that the mast broke in the storm have so far proven unfounded.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini, said the yacht was “one of the safest boats in the world” and basically unsinkable.

He alleged that the sinking was due to a chain of human errors given that the storm was expected. He made his assertions partly based on data from the Automatic Identification System. The captain and other crew members have not spoken publicly about the disaster and attempts by Reuters to reach them have been unsuccessful.

Costantino said that had the crew shut all doors and hatches, turned on the engine, lifted the anchor, lowered the keel and turned the yacht to face the wind, it would have suffered no damage.

He added that data showed it took 16 minutes from when the wind began buffeting the yacht, and it began taking on water, for it to sink.

The Bayesian was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it sank in the pre-dawn dark amid a very severe and sudden weather event.

Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said on Saturday the event was most likely a “downburst”, a very strong downward wind that is an intense but relatively frequent event at sea, rather than a waterspout which involves rotating winds like a tornado.

The coast guard have also said that given the weather forecast, there was nothing wrong about the Bayesian being moored offshore rather than at sheltering at port. Another yacht anchored nearby emerged from the storm unharmed.

Twenty-two people were on board, and 15 survived, including nine out of 10 crew members as well as Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the Bayesian. They were found on a life raft.

Six out of the 12 passengers died. Prosecutors, who have put the yacht’s captain James Cutfield under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck, said the ship would have to be pulled out of the water before the investigation could be concluded.

The sinking has puzzled seafarers and nautical engineers, who have said that it should have taken hours for the Bayesian to fill up with enough water to sink it, making its swift demise incomprehensible.

There have been suggestions that one or more portholes, windows or other openings may have been inadvertently left open by the crew, or broken or smashed by the storm, letting in water.

Experts also wondered if the yacht had been moored with its keel up, potentially compromising its stability. The keel is a fin-like stabilising structure under the hull, which can be partially lifted to reduce the depth of the boat in shallow waters or harbours.

Prosecutors have said it was too early to comment on either hypothesis. They also said crew members were not immediately tested for alcohol or drugs because they were in a state of shock when rescued.

Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow. Notices to people under investigation need to be sent out before authorities can carry out the autopsies on the bodies of the dead.

Mike Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 survivors of the sunked Bayesian.

Her husband and 18-year-old daughter Hannah, however, were among the seven people who died.

Many of the survivors have stayed in Italy as authorities try to work out what happened onboard ahead of the sinking last week.

But on Sunday, Ms Bacares reportedly left Sicily along with other survivors in a private jet.

James Cutfield, 51, the captain of the tragic Bayesian, faces further questioning from prosecutors in Italy today after he was placed under investigation for possible manslaughter and shipwreck.

One of his lawyers, Giovanni Rizzuti, told the Guardian on Monday: “Our client is deeply affected by this ordeal.”

“We are currently assessing, with other legal representatives, the defence strategy and examining the technical aspects of the case.”

Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed an investigation has been launched on Saturday.

He said his team will consider each possible element of responsibility, including those of the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision, and the yacht’s manufacturer.

The Bayesian, a 184ft (56m) British-flagged luxury yacht, went down near the Mediterranean island in southern Italy last Monday.

Investigators are focusing on how a vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailing boat remained largely unscathed.

Prosecutors said the event was “extremely rapid” and could have been a “downburst” – a localised, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly upon hitting the ground.

The crew were saved, apart from the chef, while six passengers were trapped in the hull.