Current:Home > MyCaptain of Bayesian, Mike Lynch's sunken superyacht, under investigation in Italy -Zenith Profit Hub
Captain of Bayesian, Mike Lynch's sunken superyacht, under investigation in Italy
View
Date:2025-04-25 01:24:55
Italian prosecutors are investigating whether the captain of Mike Lynch’s superyacht was at fault when the ship rapidly sank off the coast of Sicily last week, killing Lynch and six other people, a judicial source told Reuters.
James Cutfield, 51, the captain of the Bayesian yacht, is now under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck, according to the source and Italian media.
Apart from bad weather, authorities in the nearby town of Termini Imerese are investigating multiple crimes of manslaughter and causing a shipwreck in connection with the disaster, according to Ambrogio Cartosio, the head of the public prosecutor's office for the town, who made the announcement during a news conference on Saturday morning.
Investigators have interrogated Cutfield twice since the ship went down just before sunrise on August 19, capsizing its 22 passengers. Prosecutors have interviewed passengers and the eight other surviving crew members, but have not yet named any other parties under investigation.
Cutfield and his surviving crew members have not yet commented publicly on the disaster. A request for comment sent by USA TODAY to a social media account apparently belonging to Cutfield went unanswered on Monday.
Under Italian law, people under investigation need to be notified before autopsies can be performed on the deceased. The investigation will not necessarily lead to charges, including against Cutfield.
The Bayesian, a luxury yacht owned by Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, sank off the coast of Porticello as a storm swept through the area, whipping up a tornado over the water. In the immediate aftermath of the wreck, 15 passengers were rescued and Recaldo Thomas, the ship’s cook who also goes by Ricardo, was found dead.
Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, and four other passengers were found dead inside the ship following a days-long rescue operation. The victims included Chris Morvillo, an American citizen and lawyer for Clifford Chance, his wife, Neda Morvillo, Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy Bloomer.
Maritime law expert says captain could be at fault
Martin Davies, Admiralty Law Institute professor of maritime law at Tulane University, said there are two factors in the lead-up to the shipwreck that could put Cutfield and his crew at fault – the positions of the ship’s hatch covers and its keel.
The ship's retractable keel could counterbalance the weight of its mast, one of the largest in the world, when down. A failure by the crew to lower it could factor into the investigation, Davies said.
“With a giant mast like it's got, it might make more sense to put the keel down, because that would make it less likely to capsize,” he said.
The yacht may have filled with water from an open side hatch, Franco Romani, a nautical architect who helped to design the ship, told daily La Stampa in an interview on Monday.
"The Bayesian was built to go to sea in any weather," Romani said.
Davies said if the hatch covers were open, “the ship is going to sink more quickly, once it has capsized."
Since the Bayesian was registered in the U.K., British authorities “will be obliged” to open their own investigation, Davies said.
That investigation could also target the ship’s captain or crew for negligence. Bacares, the ship’s owner, would almost certainly not be a target in a criminal investigation, he added.
Davies said that under U.K. law, the owner is only to blame if they "knowingly and willfully caused or allowed the fault” that led to the shipwreck.
Davies said although it is likely too early in the process to pin down negligence charges, Italian authorities may have implicated Cutfield in order to assert their authority to continue investigating the case.
“They have to find a peg upon which to hang their ability to investigate, and I think that's what they've done,” Davies said.
Contributing: Reuters
veryGood! (43)
Related
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Railyard explosion, inspections raise safety questions about Union Pacific’s hazmat shipping
- Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius up for parole Friday, 10 years after a killing that shocked the world
- Which Thanksgiving dinner staple is the top U.S. export? The answer may surprise you.
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Zoë Kravitz Shares Glimpse of Her Gorgeous Engagement Ring During Dinner Date With Fiancé Channing Tatum
- Ex-police chief disputes allegation from Colts owner Jim Irsay, says he reviewed arrest in question
- Israel unveils what it claims is a major Hamas militant hideout beneath Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- German police raid homes of 20 alleged supporters of far-right Reich Citizens scene
Ranking
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Michigan woman won $1 million after her favorite lottery game was sold out
- To save the climate, the oil and gas sector must slash planet-warming operations, report says
- Apple announces iPhones will support RCS, easing messaging with Android
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Gov. Kathy Hochul outlines steps New York will take to combat threats of violence and radicalization
- Simone Biles celebrates huge play by her Packers husband as Green Bay upsets Lions
- Going to deep fry a turkey this Thanksgiving? Be sure you don't make these mistakes.
Recommendation
Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
Maui residents wonder if their burned town can be made safe. The answer? No one knows
Retailers ready to kick off unofficial start of the holiday season just as shoppers pull back
Venice rolls out day-tripper fee to try to regulate mass crowds on peak weekends
Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
German police arrest two men accused of smuggling as many as 200 migrants into the European Union
The JFK assassination: As it happened
She's that girl: New Beyoncé reporter to go live on Instagram, answer reader questions