Italian prosecutors have officially launched an investigation into the captain of the $40 million Bayesian superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily last week, resulting in the tragic deaths of British tech billionaire Mike Lynch, his daughter, and five others.
Captain James Cutfield, a 51-year-old from New Zealand, is under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck, according to reports on Monday from Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera. Magistrates reportedly questioned Cutfield for the second time in a week on Sunday, with the session lasting more than two hours. Prosecutors may also consider investigating a crew member who was on duty during the storm and survived the incident.
Captain Under Scanner
In Italy, being placed under investigation does not imply guilt, nor does it guarantee that formal charges will be filed.
Six passengers, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, lost their lives along with chef Recaldo Thomas when the British-flagged yacht capsized and sank, eventually settling on its side 164 feet below the surface in the early hours of last Monday.
On Sunday night, hundreds of people from the Sicilian fishing community of Porticello held a solemn candlelit vigil for the victims. A former marine who had guarded Lynch while he was under house arrest described the experience as "life-changing."
A weather event known as a downburst, which is a violent downward burst of wind that spreads outward upon hitting the ground and is often mistaken for a tornado, is believed to have contributed to the disaster.
Chief prosecutor of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, said on Saturday that while the yacht had been struck by a sudden meteorological event, it is possible that crimes of multiple manslaughter and shipwreck caused by negligence were committed.
Maritime law places full responsibility on the captain for the ship, crew, and the safety of everyone on board.
Italian prosecutors have previously questioned Cutfield, describing him as "extremely cooperative." Other crew members from the Bayesian have stayed in Italy voluntarily to assist with the investigation.
Authorities Trying to Unravel Mystery
This comes after Italian prosecutors held a press conference on Saturday, where it was revealed that the victims might have been asleep and unable to escape. In a desperate attempt to survive, they scrambled to one side of the ship in search of air pockets.
Hannah, who had eon a place at the University of Oxford, tragically died alone in a cabin.
At the Termini Imerese Courthouse in Palermo, Cartosio did not rule out the possibility of homicide charges.
One line of investigation being explored by prosecutors is whether the nine surviving crew members raised the alarm before they escaped.
Cartosio pledged to establish each crew member's level of responsibility, issuing a stern warning. "For me, it is probable that offences were committed - that it could be a case of manslaughter."
The victims' bodies were found in "tight spots" beneath furniture and were brought ashore one by one by dive teams last week, after completing 120 dives to the wreck on the seabed.
Fifteen of the 22 people on board the yacht, including Hannah's mother, Angela Bacares, 57, managed to escape using a liferaft.
Italian prosecutors admitted that they did not perform alcohol and drug tests on the ship's crew—who, except for one, all survived—because they were in need of medical treatment and in shock. However, they have promised to conduct thorough questioning of the sailors.
