Bayesian yacht sinking latest: Captain ‘insists he did everything he could’ to save passengers
Captain James Cutfield, ship engineer Tim Parker Eaton and sailor Matthew Griffith all under investigation for manslaughter
The captain of the Bayesian has insisted that he did everything possible to save those on board the superyacht, according to local reports.
Sources close to James Cutfield, 51, told the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that the 51-year-old New Zealander is currently living through the darkest days of his life as he is under investigation for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck charges.
They reportedly said Mr Cutfield repeatedly insists that he did not abandon any of the 22 passengers and crew and that he did everything could could to save them.
However, there reached a point when he could do little as the vessel had taken on too much water, they added.
Since Wednesday, Tim Parker Eaton, the engineer who was in charge of securing the yacht’s engine room, and sailor Matthew Griffith, who was on watch duty on the night of the disaster, are also under investigation for the same possible charges, their lawyer said on Friday.
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among the seven people who were killed after his superyacht capsized and went down on 19 August within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm off the coast of Sicily.
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Who was on the Bayesian?
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among the people initially unaccounted for after his superyacht Bayesian sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of 19 August.
Last Saturday morning, Italian authorities announced a manslaughter investigation had been launched into the deaths of seven people, after a five-day operation that has seen divers carefully navigating their way into the cabin bedrooms.
After a decade-long legal battle which had seen him extradited to the US to face an $11bn fraud case, Mr Lynch had celebrated by inviting his close friends, colleagues and those who helped him on his legal team aboard his boat as a gesture of gratitude.
Here’s what we know about the 22 people on board:
Who was on Bayesian and how they were celebrating end of Mike Lynch’s court battles
Ex-court appointed guard says Mike Lynch ‘became more like a family’
A court-appointed armed guard, tasked with ensuring Mike Lynch did not abscond while facing fraud charges, has paid tribute to the tech mogul, saying the security team “became less of a detail and more like a family”.
Rolo Igno also described “the memory of a beautiful soul” in Mr Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, after they died in the sinking of the luxury superyacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily early on 19 August.
Mr Lynch founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, and was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard, after a trial at a federal court in San Francisco, California.
Ellie Ng reports:
Ex-court appointed guard says Mike Lynch ‘became more like a family’
Three crew members under investigation left Italy on Wednesday
The three crew members who are under investigation over the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht left Italy on Wednesday, according to a lawyer.
The ship’s captain, New Zealander James Cutfield, Tim Parker Eaton, the engineer who was in charge of securing the yacht’s engine room, and sailor Matthew Griffith, who was on watch duty on the night of the disaster, have all been placed under investigation for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck charges.
Lawyer Mario Scopesi said that both Parker Eaton and Griffith left Italy on Wednesday, along with Cutfield and the rest of the crew.
Teenager who died in superyacht tragedy was ‘diamond in sea of stars’
The daughter of tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who died with her father on the luxury superyacht Bayesian, has been described as a “diamond in a sea of stars” by a survivor from the tragedy.
Hannah Lynch, aged 18, was one of 22 people onboard her father’s luxury boat the Bayesian when it capsized during stormy weather on 19 August.
Her body was discovered along with her father by rescue teams following the disaster off the island of Sicily. A manslaughter investigation has since been launched by Italian authorities.
Ellie Ng reports:
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