Two more crew members of the sunken yacht Bayesian are being examined

A local prosecutor has added two more crew members to the list of targets of investigation in connection with the sinking of the sailing yacht Bayesian, which sank in a sudden storm off Sicily last week and killed seven people.

According to Italian media agencies, crew members Tim Eaton and Matthew Griffith are being investigated as part of the ongoing investigation, which could potentially lead to charges of manslaughter and negligent ship handling. Griffith was on watch on the night of the accident and Eaton was the ship’s engineer. The yacht’s captain, 51-year-old New Zealander James Cutfield, is also under investigation.

Under Italian law, suspects are informed that they are under investigation at the beginning of the proceedings. Depending on the prosecutor’s findings, this information may or may not lead to criminal prosecution.

Cutfield initially cooperated with local investigators after the accident, but chose to remain silent on Tuesday, his lawyer told Italian media. It is possible that he will answer questions again later, after his defense attorney has had a chance to review the facts of the case.

Former captain describes the characteristics of the yacht

Amid ongoing speculation about the cause of the sudden sinking, a former captain of the Bayesian has released a statement containing valuable details about the ship’s design and survivability.

Much attention was paid to this Bayesian retractable keel that could be raised or lowered by about 20 feet. The design gave Bayesian the righting moment she needed to balance the rigging of a massive single-masted schooner (the yacht featured the tallest aluminum mast in the world) while reducing the vessel’s draft to access smaller ports.

According to former 2015-20 captain Stephen Edwards, the retractable keel contained only 60 tons of the Bayesian 200 tons of lead ballast, with the rest in a fixed keel box. The ship’s stability manual only required lowering the retractable keel when it was more than 60 nautical miles offshore or operating under sail, he said. Bayesian was at anchor at the time of the accident.

The Bayesian The shipbuilder has suggested that the crew may have been negligent in leaving an external hatch open. However, Edwards was confident that the crew would not have left the only hatch on the yacht’s port side unlocked. Because the hatch was so close to the waterline, it was “rarely used” and only opened in calm weather. “It was 100% unopened at night,” he wrote.

He explained the most likely places where the yacht could become submerged: the ventilation shafts for the engine room and accommodation. These would flood the interior in a sinking scenario with a slope of more than 40-45 degrees unless the ventilation hatches were closed. If the yacht was anchored with passengers on board and generators running, the ventilation shafts would have been open.