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The captain of the Bayesian is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck, a judicial source has said, as the probe into the sinking of the superyacht in a storm off Sicily continues.
Italian prosecutors have placed James Cutfield under investigation over the deaths of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and six other people, the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters on Monday, confirming earlier reports by Italian media.
Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow. Notices to people under investigation need to be sent out before authorities can carry out the autopsies on the bodies of the dead.
The decision was made after Mr Cutfield, 51, was interrogated for the second time in a week on Sunday.
The New Zealand national previously said of the storm: “We didn’t see it coming.”
It is still unclear whether other members of the crew or other people will be put under investigation along with the captain.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56m-long (184ft) yacht, was carrying 22 passengers and crew when it capsized and sank on 19 August within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm while anchored near the Sicilian capital of Palermo.
Fifteen people survived, including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, whose company owned the Bayesian, while Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was among the seven who died.
While the vessel had been hit by a sudden meteorological event, it was plausible that crimes of multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence had been committed, the head of the public prosecutor’s office of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, said on Saturday.
Maritime law gives a captain full responsibility for the ship, crew, and all on board.
“The Bayesian was built to go to sea in any weather,” Franco Romani, a nautical architect who was part of the team that designed the boat, told the Italian daily La Stampa in an interview published on Monday.
He said the yacht could have taken on water from a side hatch that was left open.
Prosecutors in Termini Imerese did not respond to calls to confirm the reports they are probing the captain.
On Saturday, chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed an investigation has been launched but said a suspect has not been identified.
He said his team will consider each possible element of responsibility, including the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision, and the yacht’s manufacturer.
Investigators are focusing on how a vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailing boat remained largely unscathed.
Prosecutors said the event was “extremely rapid” and could have been a “downburst” – a localised, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly upon hitting the ground.
The crew were saved, apart from the chef, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, 58, while six passengers were trapped in the hull.
Mr Lynch and Hannah were killed alongside Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Tributes have been paid to those who died in the disaster.
Sasha Murray, the chief stewardess of the Bayesian, who is understood to have been among the 15 people rescued from the yacht, described Hannah as a “diamond in a sea of stars”. In her tribute released over the weekend, Ms Murray added: “What most people may not have seen was the extraordinarily strong, deep and loving relationship she shared with her parents, whom she adored more than anything.”
