Investigators believe the sinking of Mike Lynch’s Bayesian superyacht was not caused by a storm and have blamed the crew instead.
The £30million vessel capsized off the coast of Sicily in August 2024, killing seven including the British tech billionaire and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Italian prosecutors appointed experts to look at whether a freak weather event – described by witnesses as a ‘tornado’ – was responsible for the tragedy.
However, the report found it amounted to ‘little more than a squall, a sudden increase in wind speed that precedes thunderstorms and downpours’, which the crew should have been able to manage.
According to the preliminary findings, the 184ft yacht therefore capsized and sank due to the improper actions of the crew, their underestimation of the weather and a number of safety devices not being activated properly.
The probe is exploring the possibility of alleged crimes including negligent shipwreck and multiple counts of manslaughter for the yacht’s captain and two of its crew members.
It has also raised the possibility of liability on the part of the superyacht’s builder.
Seven people including tech billionaire Mike Lynch (right) and his daughter Hannah (left) died when Bayesian sank in a freak storm in 2024
The superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19, 2024. It’s seen being pulled to the surface
The Bayesian went down off the coast of the Sicilian fishing village of Porticello in just 16 minutes after being hit by a fierce storm with 100 mph winds.
Mr Lynch was onboard with 11 guests including his daughter, who died, while his wife Angela Bacares was rescued alongside 10 crew members.
The other victims were the Bayesian’s chef, Recaldo Thomas; Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy; and Mr Lynch’s lawyer, Chris Morvillo, and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
The yacht’s owner, Italian Sea Group (TISG), has blamed the crew for the sinking and sued Mr Lynch’s widow for £400million, claiming the company lost sales after the disaster.
TISG’s majority owner, Giovanni Costantino, an Italian yachting millionaire, claimed that the crew’s incompetence and negligence led to the tragedy on August 19, 2024 – insisting that the yacht was ‘unsinkable’.
He alleged doors and portholes were not secured and weather warnings were ignored despite being widely publicised.
Mr Costantino also said the fact that the yacht took 16 minutes to sink meant there was ample time for the passengers and crew to be saved.
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His company has now filed a lawsuit in the town of Termini Imerese on the northern coast of Sicily, claiming that the company has lost millions by being blamed for the disaster.
A source close to the Lynch family told the Daily Mail at the time: ‘This claim is as cynical as it is predictable.
‘The UK investigation has raised serious, unresolved questions about the yacht’s design, stability and operating characteristics, including vulnerabilities unknown to the owner and crew.
‘This action appears designed to distract from those issues, but it will not prevent proper scrutiny of how the vessel was designed, approved and built. It is desperate, opportunistic and in bad faith.’
Last year, British investigators found that the crew on the superyacht were ‘unaware’ of its ‘vulnerabilities’ to strong winds, which caused it to knock over and sink.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said the yacht was doomed after it was hit by 80.6mph winds causing it to tilt violently on its side and it was unable to straighten as the freak storm hit.
In its report the MAIB said the captain and crew would have had no idea of the yacht’s vulnerabilities as they were not laid out in the stability information booklet onboard.
In March, Mr Lynch’s estate was ordered to pay $1.24billion (£930million) in damages to Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) – raising the prospect it could be cleaned out.
Mr Lynch was onboard with 11 guests including his daughter, who died, while his wife Angela Bacares was rescued alongside 10 crew members
The Bayesian, pictured left, capsized and sank off the coast of Sicily after anchoring near Porticello to shelter from the forecast thunderstorm
A High Court judge ruled that HPE was owed the sum in damages and interest for the fraudulent 2011 sale of Mr Lynch’s software company, Autonomy.
Mr Lynch was jailed on US criminal fraud charges related to the Autonomy sale before being acquitted.
His ill-fated voyage on the Bayesian was intended as a celebration of his legal win.
In a statement issued last year, Ms Bacares described how she felt the Bayesian ‘moving up and down and swaying’, prompting her to go to the upper deck to find the captain, New Zealander James Cutfield.
However, she did not think they were in a ‘serious situation’ and had not thought it necessary to alert the others on board – until ‘something catastrophic happened’ and everything changed in a moment.
She added: ‘I think something catastrophic happened to make the boat roll over, but it was all very sudden.’
