No charges have been pressed — yet.
Plot Thickens
The investigation into the sinking of a yacht earlier this month in Siciliy that killed seven people, including British billionaire Mike Lynch, is expanding. Italian authorities are now including two more crew members in its probe, The New York Times reports, joining the ship’s captain, James Cutfield, who has been under a manslaughter inquiry since Monday.
The 184-foot vessel, the Bayesian, capsized while at anchor just minutes after being caught in a storm the morning of August 19. There were 22 people aboard the yacht — 10 crew and 12 passengers — when it went down. Among the seven who died, six were passengers, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Newly under investigation, as of Wednesday, are the ship’s engineer Tim Parker Eaton, who manned the engine room, and sailor Matthew Griffith, who was serving as lookout the night of the sinking.
No charges have been pressed yet, because in Italy being investigated doesn’t necessarily mean that criminal charges will follow, according to the NYT.
Too Big to Sink
That a ship of the Bayesian’s size and caliber sank so easily has raised concern among sailors and investigators — and even the ship’s manufacturer, which maintains that it should have been “unsinkable.”
There are also questions about why so many passengers perished, while all but one of the crew made it out alive. Raffaele Cammarano, the prosecutor of the case, suggested that the victims may have been asleep while the disaster swiftly unfolded.
Whether any crew members were there to wake them up is “precisely what we are trying to ascertain,” he said, as quoted by The Guardian.
So far, only Cutfield, the captain, is under a manslaughter investigation for possible negligence that led to the deaths of the passengers. The 51-year-old New Zealander was interrogated by prosecutors on Tuesday, but exercised his right to remain silent.
All nine of the surviving crew members, including Cutfield, have left Italy, according to the NYT. They were under no obligation to stay there, but were required to appoint legal representation before leaving, Reuters reported.
Dredging Up
The investigation is still in its nascent stages, but several red flags have already cropped up.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian’s builder Perini Navi, argued in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the ship being at anchor was one of them. He suggests that the crew may have failed to follow proper procedures, such as lifting anchor, steering into the storm, and securing all doors and hatches.
According to CBS News, which cites reports by Italian media, prosecutors are investigating whether Eaton, the Bayesian’s engineer, neglected to use security systems that automatically closed all these openings in the ship’s hull, which could explain why it sank so rapidly.
But to reiterate, no one has been charged yet. A crucial stage of the investigation will be salvaging the shipwreck, which currently lies 165 feet under the sea, and that will take considerable time.
More on maritime disasters: Billionaire Yacht Was Piloted Recklessly Before Deadly Sinking, Its Builder Warns
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