Italian newspapers report that the captain of the Bayes yacht, James Cutfield, is under investigation

The captain of technology magnate Mike Lynch’s superyacht Bayesian is reportedly being investigated for manslaughter after the vessel capsized off the coast of Sicily last week.

Italian prosecutors are investigating whether the actions of 51-year-old captain James Cutfield may have led to the devastating shipping accident on August 19 that killed seven people, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter.

New Zealander Cutfield was questioned by investigators for more than two hours on Sunday. It was the second time he had been brought in for questioning, reported the Italian newspapers “La Repubblica” and “Corriere della Sera”.

According to maritime law, the ship’s captain assumes full responsibility for the safety of the ship, its crew and all passengers.

The Bayesian is believed to have been hit by a sudden and severe storm, but Italian prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio suggested on Saturday that crew negligence may have caused the ship to be damaged and sink.

According to La Repubblica, prosecutors are also considering investigating a crew member who was on duty when the bad weather hit.

Doubts were raised as to whether all of the ship’s hatches were properly secured before the storm and whether the boat’s retractable keel was fully extended when it was at anchor.

“The Bayesian was built to be able to sail in any weather,” naval architect Franco Romani, one of those involved in the Bayesian’s design, told La Stampa on Monday, adding that he believed a side hatch had been left open, allowing water to enter the boat.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of Italy’s Sea Group – which also owns yacht manufacturer Perini Navi, which built the Bayesian in 2008 – had previously told Reuters that the boat must have sunk due to “indescribable, unreasonable errors”.

“The captain should have prepared the boat and put it on alert and in a state of security,” he said in a later interview with the Financial Times, adding that if proper protocols had been followed, the 22 people on board would have been fast asleep in their bunks within an hour of the violent storm hitting.

“Ask yourself – why were none of the Porticello fishermen out that night? A fisherman checks the conditions and a ship doesn’t? The disturbance was clearly visible on all the weather maps. It was impossible not to know,” he said.

The time period of the shipping accident gives rise to further doubts regarding the guilt of the crew members.

Previous reports said the Bayesian sank in just two minutes, but Constantino said he had seen data from the ship showing it took a full 16 minutes to sink.

“It did not sink in a minute, as some scientists claimed. It sank in 16 minutes,” he said, asking why the crew could not evacuate the boat within that time.

Of the twelve passengers and ten crew members who were on board at the time of the accident, 15 were able to leave the ship alive.

With post wires.