TERMINI IMERESE: An Italian prosecutor has opened a manslaughter investigation into the deaths of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and six other people who died when a luxury yacht sank off Sicily this week.
The head of the Termini Imerese Prosecutor's Office, Ambrogio Cartosio, announced the investigation at a press conference, saying that so far the investigation is not targeting any particular person.
Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was also among those killed when the family's 56-metre-long (184-foot) boat, the Bayesian, capsized during a fierce pre-dawn storm on Monday off Porticello, near Palermo.
Fifteen people survived, including Lynch's wife, whose company owned the Bayesian, and the yacht's captain.
Captain James Cutfield and the other survivors have been questioned by authorities this week. None of them have publicly commented on how the ship sank.
Raffaele Cammarano, another prosecutor who spoke at the same news conference, said that when authorities questioned Cutfield he had been “extremely cooperative.”
Removing the Bayesian ship from the sea may help investigators determine what happened, but the operation is likely to be complex and expensive. The wreck lies apparently intact on its side at a depth of 50 metres.
“It is in the interest of the ship's owners and managers to rescue it,” Cartosio said, adding that “they have assured their full cooperation.”
He said there was no legal obligation for the captain, crew and passengers to remain in Italy, but authorities expected them to cooperate with the investigation.
The sinking has baffled naval experts who say a ship like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht maker Perini, should have weathered the storm and in any case should not have sunk as quickly as it did.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, owner of Perini, said: Reuters The sinking this week was the result of a series of “unspeakable and unreasonable errors” by the crew, and any design or construction flaws were ruled out.
