'Questions to be asked about the crew': Engineering expert tells LBC that fatal Bayesian yacht sinking is 'puzzling'
23 August 2024, 19:30 | Updated: 24 August 2024, 08:42
An engineering expert has said that there are "questions to be asked" about the actions of the crew of the Bayesian superyacht before the ship sank.
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Seven people died after the Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning: British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo and the ship's cook Recaldo Thomas.
Italian prosecutors have launched a manslaughter investigation into the incident, with the actions of the ship's captain and crew to come under the spotlight.
Dr Jean-Baptiste Souppez, an engineering lecturer at Aston University, said there were still questions to be asked about what went on the night of the tragedy.
Read more: Sailing yachts like Mike Lynch’s are ‘unsinkable’, claims CEO of company that builds them
He told LBC's Ben Kentish: "We're looking at vessels that are very safe, that are built to very strong and rigorous engineering standards. For the vessel of that side to find itself going down without any major structure of failure.
"The accounts of the divers are that the vessel is pretty much intact. So that's something that's very puzzling.
"We know that there was a report of very strong but very localised weather, so what we call a water spout, or essentially a mini tornado over the sea, and that could contribute to explaining why this vessel was affected when another vessel a couple of 100 metres away was not.
"But there's also questions being asked about the preparation of the vessel and the crew, with respect to the weather alerts that day."
Some 15 people survived the wreck. The group of survivors were picked up in a life raft by a nearby boat after firing a flare into the night sky.
Now, the Prosecutor's Office of Termini Imerese, led by Ambrogio Cartosio, said it is investigating the reasons behind the sinking.
Authorities have said they are "investigating shipwreck and multiple counts of culpable manslaughter" after the boat capsized off the coast near Palermo, Sicily, shortly before 5am on Monday.
The prosecutor's office has announced a press conference is set to take place on Saturday morning to provide an update.
It's been suggested the boat sank in as little as 60 seconds, based on eye-witness reports.
Vincenzo Zagarola likened conditions in the sunken superyacht to an "18-storey building full of water".
"From the first moment it has not been easy or quick to inspect the boat," he said.
"Think of an 18-storey building full of water."
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch's acquittal in a fraud case in the US. The businessman, who founded the software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.
A decision on whether to raise the sunken yacht from the seabed is "not on the agenda", but will be in the future, a spokesman from the Italian Coastguard has said.
