An investigation has been opened into the negligent sinking of the Bayesian, the captain’s story in the prosecutor’s office

It would have confirmed what the captain of the Bayesian had already said about the shipwreck, that the storm came suddenly and they did not see it coming. That of James Cutfield51-year-old New Zealand captain of the sailing boat that sank during the night between Sunday and Monday in front of Porticello, Sicily, is the central testimony and also the most difficult position within the investigation. For now, the investigation is for negligent shipwreck against unknown persons, but there could soon be suspects.

The focus of the investigation is the “risk assessment” and the captain was the person who had to do it: to stop at anchor or not, to check the weather situation. Cutfield was questioned for two hours by the prosecutor. He has been working on boats like the one that sank for years, he took part in regattas in his youth and he also worked in the shipbuilding sector. The magistrates are questioning all the survivors inside the Domina-Zagarella resort.

The reconstructions

Different opinions have been brought forward by experts in recent days. Rainews24 reports the analysis of an expert in the sector, an engineer from the Italian Sea Group, the company that owns Perini Navi, the Viareggio-based shipyard group that launched the Bayesian in 2008: «The Bayesian yacht most likely sank due to human error, an attitude not very suitable for dealing with the possible arrival of a disturbance.». The absence of a person on duty to check the storm warnings has been noted from several quarters.

It has been pointed out from several quarters that the Bayesian’s keel was partially raised at the time of the sinking. Four meters instead of seven and a half meters. LA centerboard is the perpendicular wing at the lowest part of the hull. When lowered, it provides stability to the vessel because it increases the draft, or the extent of the hull’s surface immersed in water, more. Lowering it would have taken more time than the tornado left. Some marine insurance brokers also speculate that one of the ship’s hatches was left open.

John Constantinefounder and CEO of The Italian Sea Group, the listed company that owns the assets of Perini Navi in ​​Viareggio, says to Evening Courier that the Bayesian was one of the safest boats in the world: «Everything that was done reveals a very long summation of errors. People shouldn’t have been in the cabins, the boat shouldn’t have been at anchor. And then why didn’t the crew know about the incoming storm? The passengers reported something absurd, that is, that the storm arrived unexpectedly, suddenly. It’s not true. It was all predictable. I have the weather charts here in front of me. Suddenly, nothing arrived… Ask yourself: why were no fishermen from Porticello out that night? A fisherman reads the weather conditions and a ship doesn’t? The storm was fully legible in all the weather charts. It couldn’t have been unknowable». In his opinion, the only explanation is that the ship took on water, a situation resulting from possible incorrect maneuvers. «The ship was at anchor. At a certain point the anchor lost its grip and she moved, dragged by the wind that pushed her, catching her in the belly. He pushes it for 4 minutes that we call “leeching”, he rotates it and puts it in the position in which it sank. In these 4 minutes – and I take responsibility for what I say – the ship has already taken on water».

The research

In addition to searching for the bodies of the victims, we are also trying to understand the dynamics of what happened with men and means. We are also working with a remotely controlled underwater vehicle, ROV – Remotely Operated Vehicle. It can operate on the seabed up to 300 meters deep and has an autonomy of between 6 and 7 hours. The firefighters’ cave divers are able to stay underwater for up to 20 minutes at a time, given the depth.

The victims

In the meantime, five victims have been recovered. On the morning of Thursday, August 22, the body of the fifth victim was brought to the surface, Mike Lynchone of the richest men in England, a technology entrepreneur, who had organised the prize cruise for friends and colleagues.

The recovered bodies were found in the cabins where the divers entered through a gap in a window. The bodies brought back to shore on Wednesday 21 August are those of Jonathan Bloomerchairman of Morgan Stanley International since 2018, Chris Morvillo, a lawyer and former assistant attorney in New York, and their wives Anne Elizabeth Judith, a psychotherapist, and Neda, a designer of luxury jewelry. Lunch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, is missing. The body of Ricardo Thomas, the ship’s cook, had already been found on the first day.