Italian prosecutors said Saturday they had opened an investigation into negligent vessel sinking and multiple counts of murder after a superyacht capsized during a storm off the coast of Sicily early Monday, killing seven people on board, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and the boat’s Canadian chef.
Termini Imerese prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed that an investigation had been opened but said no suspects had been identified so far.
“The investigation is still in its early stages. We cannot rule out any developments at this stage,” he told reporters at a news conference.
Cartosio said his team would carefully consider all possible elements of liability, including the captain, crew, supervisors and shipbuilders.
“In my opinion, there may have been a crime committed, there may have been manslaughter, but we can only prove that if we give the investigation time,” he said.
A key question focusing investigators is why the Basian, deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while nearby sailing ships remained largely intact.
WATCH | What we know about the yacht sinking:
How the Bayesian superyacht sank in just minutes | About That
As an investigation is underway to determine why a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, killing seven crew members, Lauren Bird examines expert analysis of how quickly it sank and whether more could have been done to prevent it.
Prosecutors said the event was “extremely rapid” and that the information they had seemed to indicate a “downburst” – a localized, powerful wind that falls from a thunderstorm and spreads quickly when it hits the ground.
Civil defence officials initially said they believed the yacht, with its distinctive 75-metre aluminium mast, had been hit by a waterspout – a type of water tornado.
Investigators were also asked why six passengers remained trapped in the hull of the ship when almost all the crew, except for the chef, had been rescued.
Local authorities confirmed that most of the bodies recovered were found in the same part of the ship – on the left side, closer to the waterline – suggesting that passengers had sought safety in the cabin where the final bubble originated.
Deputy prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said the passengers were likely asleep, adding that one of the main focuses of the investigation is to establish whether anyone on board had warned them.
Cammarano confirmed that there was one observer in the cockpit.
Rescuers on Friday pulled the last of seven bodies ashore from the 56-metre, British-flagged luxury yacht, the Baysian, which had 10 crew members and 12 passengers on board.
The seventh victim was Hannah Lynch, 18, the daughter of Mike Lynch, whose body was discovered on Thursday. Lynch had been celebrating with his family and lawyers after being acquitted of fraud charges in his US trial. His wife, Angela Bakales, was one of 15 survivors.
Termini Imerese Prosecutor General Ambrogio Cartosio held a press conference on Saturday to announce details of the investigation into the sinking of the luxury yacht during a severe storm. (Luisa Vladi/Reuters)
Rescue teams struggled for four days to find all the bodies, slowly digging their way through the wreck, which lies 50 metres below sea level.
The other five victims were Canadian Recardo Thomas, the yacht’s chef, Christopher Morbillo, one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, and his wife, Neda, and Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy.
