Bayesian yacht sinking latest: Captain ‘insists he did everything he could’ to save passengers

Hannah Lynch had just completed her A-levels and secured a place to study English at Oxford University.

Her former English teacher Jon Mitropoulos-Monk said she was “one of the best English students in the country” having scored 100% in her English Literature GCSE.

Patrick Jacob, a family friend, paid tribute to her on Friday, saying: “Hannah was charming and ferociously intelligent with an insatiable thirst for life and knowledge. She was also warm, loving and deeply considerate; remarkably for her age.

“I am 50 years older than her and in my life I have never met anybody like Hannah. We have lost one of our brightest stars whose future held so much promise. Her loss is unbearable.”

Members of the yachting community have signalled their support for the captain and crew of the Bayesian as some have been placed under investigation.

One wrote on social media: “Now we need those keyboard warriors and judgemental ‘know it alls’ to actually wait and listen to the unbiased actual professionals ...

“I still stand in support of all Bayesian crew and if things turn sour, I propose all my friends in yachting to stand together and sign a strong petition to support the remaining survived crew to Bayesian.”

Mike Lynch’s wife did not want to leave the scene of the Bayesian wreck without her family, the captain of a boat near the sinking has said.

Karsten Borner, the captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, which helped to rescue the 15 survivors of the disaster in Sicily, told People that Angela Bacares “didn’t want to leave because her husband and her daughter were still down”.

British technology tycoon Mr Lynch and one of the daughters he has with Ms Bacares, 18-year-old 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.

The sinking has puzzled naval marine experts, who said a vessel like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini and deemed “unsinkable”, should have withstood the storm – and, in any case, should not have sunk as quickly as it did. Meanwhile, a nearby sailing boat remained largely unscathed.

Prosecutors in the town of Termini Imerese, near Palermo, said the event was “extremely rapid” and could have been a “downburst” – a localised, powerful wind, which descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly upon hitting the ground.

They added that their investigation would take time and would require the wreck of the Bayesian – which is lying on its right side, at a depth of around 50 metres (164 feet) – to be salvaged from the sea.

Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, who is heading the investigation, has said his team would consider each possible element of responsibility including those of the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision and the yacht’s manufacturer.

Charities dedicated to rescuing asylum-seekers in the Mediterranean have hit out at the “double standard” highlighted by the media coverage and resources given to the Bayesian search effort.

“For us, every death in the Mediterranean is one too many, no matter where they come from or how much money they make,” the organisation Sea-Eye, who recently rescued 262 people in the Mediterranean, said in a statement to The Guardian.

They added: “Sadly, it makes a difference in the media, in our society and in politics, who is drowning. We have noticed that the coverage of the situation in the Mediterranean, of tragedies or of our rescues in recent months has not been nearly as extensive as in the case of the Sicilian shipwreck in recent days.”

Days after the Bayesian sank, distress calls relating to a dinghy carrying 43 people in the Mediterranean were ignored and the vessel was left in peril for more than 24 hours until the charity Sea-Watch got there “just in time” to rescue those onboard and in the surrounding waters, the organisation alleged.

“For the Italian and European authorities, there are Shipwrecks and then there are shipwrecks, one capitalised and the other lowercase, one immediately rescued and the other abandoned to its fate,” Sea-Watch said, adding: “There was no rescue effort by the authorities. That’s no coincidence; it’s the EU’s double standard.”

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.

Italian prosecutors have put under investigation two more crew members of the Bayesian, the superyacht that sank off Sicily last week, killing seven people, their lawyer said on Friday.

The move widens the probe into the shipwreck, for which the ship's captain, New Zealander James Cutfield, is already under investigation for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck charges.

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 under investigation for the same possible charges, their lawyer said.

"The profile of their possible responsibilities is still unclear, as the investigation has just started," lawyer Mario Scopesi told The Associated Press.

He added that both Parker Eaton and Griffith left Italy on Wednesday, along with Cutfield and the rest of the crew.

The three crew members were among 15 survivors of the August 19 sinking that killed British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah and five others.

Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, who is heading the investigation, has said his team will consider each possible element of responsibility including those of the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision and the yacht's manufacturer.

The Bayesian, a 56-metre British-flagged luxury yacht, went down near Sicily, in the Mediterranean.

Investigators are focusing on how a sailing vessel deemed "unsinkable" by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.

Prosecutors said the event was "extremely rapid" and could have been a "downburst" - a localized, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly on hitting the ground.