The body of Mike Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah has been recovered from the wreckage of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, meaning all six previously missing passengers have now been found.
The Bayesian yacht was moored half a mile off the coast of Porticello in Sicily when it sank in the early hours of Monday as the area was hit by a fierce storm.
Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 – including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and captain James Cutfield – were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat.
The boat is believed to have sank in the space of around 15 minutes. The sinking has puzzled naval marine experts who say a boat like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm and should not, in any case, have sunk as quickly as it did.
Unconfirmed reports in local media have indicated prosecutors are set to launch an investigation into the Italian equivalent of UK manslaughter charges over the incident.
Cutfield, his eight surviving crew members and passengers have since reportedly been questioned by police. Here is everything we know about the captain.
Who is James Cutfield?
Cutfield, 51, is from New Zealand. He is reported to have told Italian media shortly after the incident: “We just didn’t see it coming.”
His brother, Mark, spoke to The New Zealand Herald on Wednesday. He said Cutfield’s injuries were not “too dramatic” and described him as a “very good sailor” and “very well respected”.
He told the paper that before working for Lynch, he had worked for a Turkish billionaire and had captained luxury yachts since 2016, having previously worked on them for two decades.
Mark Cutfield also said his brother was a “top sailor” in his youth who raced competitively.
He is reported to have married his wife in Mallorca last year.
What is happening with the investigation?
Cutfield was reportedly quizzed by authorities for two hours as they began questioning all crew members.
Prosecutors are considering potential manslaughter charges relating to the sinking of the boat, The Guardian reported on Friday. The report did not mention Cutfield.
Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese are scheduled to hold a press conference on Saturday morning.
The Bayesian is lying on its side, apparently intact at a depth of 50 metres (164 ft). Pulling it out of the sea may help investigators determine what happened, but the operation is likely to be complex and costly.
According to Reuters, under maritime law, a captain has full responsibility for the ship, the crew, and the safety of all those aboard.
What has been said about the crew?
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini, a high-end yacht maker which built the Bayesian in 2008, told Reuters on Thursday that the shipwreck was the result of “indescribable, unreasonable errors” made by the crew.
He ruled out any design or construction errors, which he claimed were unlikely after 16 years of trouble-free navigation, including in more severe weather than on Monday.
He blamed the Bayesian’s crew for the “incredible mistake” of not being prepared for the storm, which had been announced in shipping forecasts.
“This is the mistake that cries out for vengeance,” he said.
Costantino said passengers should have been summoned out of their cabins and assembled at a point of safety while the boat was being prepared for the storm by pulling up the anchor, closing doors and hatches and lowering the keel to increase stability.
Had correct procedures been followed, all passengers would have gone back to sleep after one hour “and the next morning they would have happily resumed their wonderful cruise,” Costantino claimed.
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