A British tech tycoon’s luxury superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily wasn’t caused by a catastrophic storm — but was doomed because of the actions of the ship’s crew, a bombshell report argued.
Experts contracted by Italian prosecutors were asked to investigate the weather over the Tyrrhenian Sea on Aug 19, 2024, when billionaire Mike Lynch’s Bayesian yacht capsized and sank, killing him, his teen daughter and five others.
An initial report found the perceived deadly storm was “a little more than a squall” and manageable when it collided with the 184-foot ship in the Italian waters, Sky News reported.
The preliminary report pinned blame on crew members for underestimating the storm’s strength, taking improper actions during the chaotic scene, and the lack of certain security devices used.
Experts have previously theorized that the craft capsized during a “black swan” eventwhen a spontaneous formation of a tornado-like waterspout struck the vessel.
The public prosecutor’s office in the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese is running a criminal investigation into the deadly shipwreck, The Post exclusively reported last May.
Captain James Cutfield, chief engineer Timothy Parker Eaton and deckhand Matthew Griffiths could face criminal charges, including negligent shipwreck and multiple counts of manslaughter.
Griffiths, who was on the night watch at the time, “did not realize … that the boat had taken on water” and is accused of being negligent through “malpractice, recklessness and inexperience,” according to the prosecutor’s decree.
The two underlings did not properly alert Cutfield of the dangers, as the ship’s captain did not notify passengers that there was “the danger of impending shipwreck,” prosecutors alleged.
The ship’s builder, Perini Navi, could be held liable for the wreck after the $37 million “unsinkable ship” was rapidly swallowed by the Mediterranean water in under 16 minutes.
Lynch, 59, was hosting 11 other guests, including his wife and their 18-year-old daughter Hannah, aboard the yacht when catastrophe struck just before 5 a.m.
What to know after a tornado sank the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily:
- A superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing seven passengers.
- British tech tycoon Mike Lynch was identified as one of the bodies pulled from the wreckage. His teenage daughter, Hannah, was the final one to be recovered.
- Lynch — known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — had invited guests from Clifford Chance, a legal firm that represented him, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage, according to the Telegraph.
- Security camera footage shot from 650 feet from where the Bayesian sank Monday shows it disappearing.
- A rare and unexpected “black swan” weather eventmay have led to the Bayesian’s speedy demise, maritime experts say.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch found Cutfield was preparing to position the ship into the wind when “the wind suddenly increased to more than 70 knots,” according to an interim report released by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.
The craft violently tipped 90 degrees to the right in under 15 seconds.
The sudden shift immediately shut down the generators, the report stated.
Lynch’s widow, Angela Bacares, survived the sinking alongside 15 others near Porticello.
Bacares, who had cut her feet on glass escaping the doomed vessel, was ordered to pay over $1.2 billion back in March, stemming from a 2015 lawsuit.
London’s High Court had handed Hewlett-Packard the 10-figure award after it won its case seeking to recoup its losses in the 2011 acquisition of Mike Lynch’s software firm Autonomy.
Lynch had been found guilty of artificially inflating the search software company’s value ahead of the sale to HP.
Bacares faces certain bankruptcy from the order after being left with her husband’s estate of $669 million.
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