Manslaughter Charges May Be Next Step in Sunken Superyacht Investigation

A local prosecutor in Sicily may bring criminal charges in connection with the sinking of the 180-foot sailing yacht Bayesian off the coast of Porticello last week, according to Italian media, and the inquiry may be nearing the point where suspects will be notified that they are targets of an investigation. This may include the vessel's captain, who has been cooperating with local law enforcement, according to Italian newswire ADN Kronos. 

Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, of the small port town of Termini Imarese, said Saturday that his office has opened an investigation into possible charges of manslaughter and negligent shipwreck. No suspects have been named publicly. 

“For me, it is probable that offenses were committed, that it could be a case of manslaughter, but we can only establish that if you give us the time to investigate," Cartosio said. 

The next step in the inquiry will be an autopsy of the bodies of the seven victims, which were all recovered in the wreck. The deceased include British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah Lynch, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judith Bloomer, and lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, along with chef Recaldo “Rick” Thomas. 

Prosecutors told media on Saturday that they were particularly interested in understanding how all but one member of the crew abandoned ship and survived, while multiple passengers remained trapped inside their quarters. One line of inquiry is focused on how much the crew knew in advance about the coming storm, and whether the passengers were warned of the risk. Deputy prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said that the bodies of the deceased were found in cabins on the port side, the side facing upwards when the vessel settled to the bottom. 

The investigators believe that the 180-foot yacht was hit by winds from a severe downburst - an extreme downdraft from a thunderstorm - and then rapidly flooded. The severe storm conditions were forecast in advance, and it is not yet clear what preparations the crew did or did not make in advance. Another sailing yacht was just a few hundred yards away and weathered the winds without incident.  

The owner of the yard that built the Bayesian, Italian Sea Group CEO Giovanni Costantino, insists that the yacht should have been unsinkable. In a series of interviews last week, he blamed the crew for making "incredible mistakes" that "cry out for vengeance."