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Italian prosecutors are investigating charges of manslaughter and “negligent vessel accident” after a superyacht sank in bad weather, killing British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and six others.
Ambrogio Cartosio, the Italian prosecutor for Termini Imerese in Sicily, said at a press conference on Saturday that the investigation was targeting “unidentified individuals,” but that it could change to include known individuals, regardless of whether the 540-tonne wreck of the Basian is ever recovered from the seabed near Porticello, off the coast of Sicily.
“We may add someone to the list of people under investigation long before the vessel is recovered,” he said. “It seems likely that charges of negligent shipwreck and manslaughter have been committed. The key is to establish who can be charged with those charges.”
The Baysian was anchored off the coast of Porticello when it was hit by unusually strong winds and sank around 4 a.m. Monday. Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 were rescued by a nearby boat, six died after being trapped in the boat, and one was found dead in the water. The last body, that of Lynch’s daughter Hannah, was retrieved from the cabin by divers on Friday.
Investigators have concluded that “the ship sank stern first, not bow first,” Cartosio said, basing their conclusion on an analysis of the ship’s position on the ocean floor, interviews with survivors and the testimony of Captain Carsten Werner, whose ship was anchored near the Baysian when the storm hit.
Berner, who rescued Baysian survivors by firing red flares from a life raft, told the Financial Times that he and his passengers were trying to keep the boat in place in the storm when they saw what looked like a triangle in a lightning flash out at sea.
“I think they saw the boat capsize, they turned around and saw the bow and then it sank,” he said.
The stern-first sinking suggests that water may have flooded the stern or rear compartments, causing the ship’s bow to tilt upwards. It is not yet clear whether a large hatch at the stern, slightly above waterline, was open, and prosecutors would not comment on the matter.
Admiral Raffaele Macauda of Palermo’s coast guard said the 12-hour weather forecast, from late Sunday night to midday Monday, warned of localized thunderstorms but not of extreme weather.
But Deputy Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said the storm that hit the ship was “really strong and sudden.” “Based on the information we have, it’s more likely that it was a downburst,” he said.
Borner estimated the winds were “ferocious, very ferocious,” reaching 12 on the Beaufort wind scale, the equivalent of hurricane strength. “Tons and tons of water came down. I’ve never seen a water tornado like that,” he added.
Coroners said the first five bodies pulled from the wreck, recovered Wednesday and Thursday, were found in a cabin on the port side. Hannah Lynch’s body was found in another cabin on the same side.
Cammarano said the fact that the bodies were grouped together in one cabin wasn’t necessarily an indication that passengers were trying to escape, as they could have been swept away by the rushing waters. “Maybe they were asleep,” he said.
Investigators said the luxury yacht’s last position was reported electronically at 4:06 a.m., likely when it finally sank beneath the waves, while survivors fired a flare from a life raft at 4:38 a.m. Prosecutors are investigating how all of the crew, except for the chef, were able to escape when all six victims, whose bodies were found inside the hull, were passengers.
Coast Guard officials said they had no timetable yet for draining diesel from the Baysian’s fuel tanks, which can hold up to 50 tons, but said recovering the vessel from the ocean floor was a top priority, as it would aid in the investigation and make the bay safer for local residents.
The boat is currently 150 feet (49 meters) below the surface of the water. Makauda said the owner of the boat will cover the costs of recovery. Records show the yacht was owned by Lynch’s family.
