As authorities try to piece together the sequence of events that led to the sinking of a Bayesian superyacht earlier this week, the CEO of the company that owns the ship's manufacturer has described an “endless chain of errors” that he claims contributed to the tragedy.
A total of 22 people, 12 passengers and 10 crew members, were on board the Bayesian when it sank off the coast of Sicily during heavy storms just before 5am on Monday morning. Fifteen people were rescued at the scene and a body was initially found in the water (believed to be that of the ship's chef, Recaldo Thomas), but six more were not recovered. At least five more bodies were pulled from the water on Wednesday and Thursday.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, detailed the list of possible errors in an interview with the Italian newspaper Greenhouse CorridorTranslated via People“This episode looks like an incredible story, both technically and factually,” Costantino said.
Perhaps most importantly, the luxury yacht maker says guests should not be in their cabins when turbulent weather hits, but instead should gather at the ship’s emergency rendezvous point. Some of the rescue efforts have been hampered by debris blocking the underwater path to the cabins, where several bodies have reportedly been found.
“Instead, the guests took in water while still in the cabin. All it took was a 40-degree tilt and the cabin occupants found themselves with the door above. Can you imagine a 60-70-year-old man climbing out?” Costantino asked incredulously. “Everything that was done reveals a very long list of errors. People shouldn't have been in the cabins, the boat shouldn't have been anchored. And then why didn't the crew know about the inconvenience that was coming?”
“Initially, in the event of a weather warning, from what I have read, it was inappropriate to have a party. It would not have happened that evening,” he continued. “The hull and deck should have been secured by placing the guests in the ship's meeting point according to emergency procedure, closing all doors and hatches. Then start the engines, pull up the anchor or release it automatically, put the bow into the wind and lower the keel.”
Costantino claims that if they had taken these precautions, they would have been out the next morning with zero damage. However, he also questioned why the ship was in the water in the first place when potentially dangerous weather conditions were so easily foreseeable.
“The passengers reported something absurd, namely that the storm came unexpectedly, suddenly. That is not true. Everything was predictable,” said Costantino. “I have the weather charts in front of me. Nothing came suddenly. Ask yourself, why was no fisherman from Porticello out that night? A fisherman reads the weather conditions, but a ship does not? The discomfort was completely readable on all the weather charts. One could not ignore it.”
“It is an unsinkable ship, but its crew has an endless chain of mistakes,” he added.
The CEO also claimed that if he were the captain, he would have steered the ship away from the approaching storm. But even if he had stayed, he said he would have handled the weather conditions, which “let's face it, aren't that crazy.” He believes there would have been “zero risk” to the ship if the right maneuvers had been made.
Costantino also described reports that the ship sank in seconds as “nonsense”, saying that a more accurate timeframe would have been within six minutes, from when the yacht started taking on water.
The results of a full investigation will likely determine what caused the ship to sink so suddenly. However, it is believed that the Bayesian was struck by a tornado-like cyclone, a rotating column of air that forms over a body of water, and that this may have surprised the captain and crew. Some have called this a “Black Swan” event; nearby boats were largely unharmed.
Those still missing include British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley international director Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo. Italian authorities have yet to identify the bodies; in Italy, a person close to the deceased must formally identify the body before a coroner or prosecutor can confirm.