The captain of the stricken Bayes superyacht is reportedly under investigation by Italian prosecutors after the 184ft vessel sank during violent storms off the coast of Sicily last week. Seven of the 22 passengers and crew died in the accident, including British tech mogul Mike Lynch.
Reuters On Monday, Italian media confirmed that New Zealand national James Cutfield, 51, was being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck. But in Italy, an investigation does not necessarily mean guilt and does not determine whether formal charges will ultimately be brought. Notifications must be sent to those under investigation before autopsies can be carried out on victims.
Cutfield was reportedly questioned twice before the decision was made to investigate him, and it is unclear at this time whether any of the crew members will be investigated in the same way as part of a potential criminal investigation.
The Bayesian sank within minutes of what was said to be a hurricane-like twister in the early hours of Monday morning, August 19. Despite the weather elements, Ambrogio Cartosio, head of the Termini Imerese prosecutor's office, said it was still possible that negligence contributed to the sinking.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the ship’s manufacturer, The Italian Sea Group, told Italian media last week that an “endless chain of errors” contributed to the ship’s collapse. Measures that Costantino claimed were ignored included moving passengers from their cabins to the ship’s emergency meeting point and securing the hull and deck by closing all doors and hatches.
“The Bayesian ship is built to sail in all weather,” Franco Romani, a naval architect who was part of the team that designed the ship, said in an interview on Monday. Romani also suggested that the yacht may have taken in water through a side hatch that was left open.
If it is determined that major mistakes have indeed been made, Reuters maritime law holds that a ship's captain is fully liable for the ship, crew, and all passengers on board. Neither Cutfield nor any of the surviving crew members have spoken publicly about the investigation.