Italian prosecutor opens manslaughter inquiry in Lynch yacht sinking

[August 24, 2024]  TERMINI IMERESE, Italy (Reuters) -An Italian prosecutor has opened a manslaughter investigation into the deaths of British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six other people who were killed when a luxury yacht sank off Sicily this week.

The head of the public prosecutor's office of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, announced the investigation at a news conference, saying the probe was so far not aimed at any individual person.

Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was also among those who died when the family's 56-metre-long (184-foot) boat, the Bayesian, capsized during a fierce, pre-dawn storm on Monday off Porticello, near Palermo.

Fifteen people survived, including Lynch's wife, whose company owned the Bayesian, and the yacht's captain.

The captain James Cutfield and the other survivors have been questioned this week by authorities. None of them have commented publicly on how the ship went down.

Raffaele Cammarano, another prosecutor speaking at the same news conference, said that when authorities questioned Cutfield he had been "extremely cooperative".

Pulling the Bayesian out of the sea may help investigators determine what happened, but the operation is likely to be complex and costly. The wreck is lying apparently intact on its side at a depth of 50 meters (164 feet).

"It's in the interests of the owners and managers of the ship to salvage it," Cartosio said, adding "they have assured their full cooperation".

He said there was no legal obligation for the captain, crew and passengers to remain in Italy but authorities expected them to cooperate with the probe.

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 in any case should not have sunk as quickly as it did.

Chief of the public prosecutor's office of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio holds a press conference to share details about the investigation regarding the luxury yacht that sank during a violent storm, at the court in Termini Imerese, near Palermo, Italy August 24, 2024. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini, told Reuters this week the shipwreck was the result of a string of "indescribable, unreasonable errors" made by the crew, and ruled out any design or construction failings.

SCOURING FOR BODIES

Cammarano said that the passengers were all probably asleep at the time of the storm which was why they failed to escape.

Divers scoured the submerged vessel all week to recover bodies, with Hannah Lynch's the last to be recovered on Friday. The five other dead passengers were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday, while the body of the only crew member who died, onboard chef Recaldo Thomas, was found on Monday.

Mike Lynch, 59, was one of the UK's best-known tech entrepreneurs and had invited friends to join him on the yacht to celebrate his acquittal in June in a U.S. fraud trial.

Among those who also died in the wreck were Lynch's lawyer Chris Morvillo and Jonathan Bloomer, a Morgan Stanley banker who had appeared as a character witness in the case on his behalf.

(Reporting by Giulio PiovaccariWriting by Frances KerryEditing by Kirsten Donovan)

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