Prosecutors investigating the sinking of £30million superyacht Bayesian are seeking to blame the crew – to save the Italian yacht building industry, experts have told The Mail on Sunday.
Seven people including tech billionaire Mike Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, died when Bayesian sank in a freak storm last August after being hit by winds in excess of 70 mph.
An interim report issued by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch suggested the yacht was susceptible to ‘high winds’ and ‘if tilted to more than 70 degrees would be unrecoverable’.
The crew were ‘unaware’ of this vulnerability because it was not mentioned in the 184ft Bayesian’s manual, it added. The yacht’s trademark 236ft mast may have also been to blame, it is suggested.
But Giovanni Costantino, chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, who bought Bayesian’s builder Perini Navi, has repeated several times in interviews that the yacht was ‘unsinkable’ and blamed ‘human error’ for the disaster.
And prosecutors seem to have ruled out any possibility that the yacht’s design and mast, which was removed from Bayesian and brought up separately, may have contributed to the disaster.
According to a leaked prosecution document seen by the MoS, the focus is instead on skipper James Cutfield, first engineer Tim Parker-Eaton and nightwatchman Matthew Griffiths, who, it says, all ‘cooperated negligently with each other’.
The MoS can reveal that prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano points the finger at Mr Griffiths for ‘not noticing the worsening weather conditions’, before saying Mr Parker-Eaton should have ‘been aware water was entering the stern of the yacht’.
Seven people including tech billionaire Mike Lynch (right) and his daughter Hannah (left) died when Bayesian sank in a freak storm last August after being hit by winds in excess of 70 mph
The £30million superyacht was last week lifted to the surface for the first time after sinking last August
A drone’s eye view of the Bayesian being raised from the water by salvage crews
He adds that Mr Parker-Eaton ‘failed to warn the captain promptly’ before finally concluding Mr Cutfield ‘did not adapt swiftly to adapt all measures needed to deal with the emergency that had arisen, causing it to sink’.
The trio have been placed under formal investigation by prosecutor Cammarano for multiple manslaughter and negligent shipwreck causing a disaster.
All three insist they did all they could to save the yacht and that hatches, doors and windows were all closed in anticipation of the storm that swept in.
But last night a UK marine source, who asked not to be named, told the MoS: ‘It’s quite clear here that the Italians are looking to protect their yacht-building industry and by passing the blame on to the crew they can make sure they will do.
‘The UK MAIB report clearly states the yacht was vulnerable in high winds and this wasn’t noted in the manual. The night Bayesian went down winds were more than 70mph and this was enough to knock her over.
A leaked prosecution document seen by the MoS reveals the focus is on skipper James Cutfield, first engineer Tim Parker-Eaton and nightwatchman Matthew Griffiths, who, it says, all ‘cooperated negligently with each other’ (Pictured: A file image of Bayesian)
‘Once she tilted to 70 degrees, there was no turning back and that’s what happened.
‘Yes, water would have got in as a result but the crew would have no idea that she was vulnerable in high winds because, crucially, it wasn’t mentioned in the manual.’
Another London-based maritime accident investigator told the MoS: ‘It’s always much easier to blame the crew than the yacht manufacturers themselves, so this doesn’t surprise me. They are a much easier target when it comes to the insurers as well.’
Seven passengers and crew died on the yacht and 15 people, including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela, were rescued. Bayesian is now on dry land in Sicily and being examined.
