Manslaughter investigation launched over Mike Lynch luxury yacht sinking

The British technology magnate and six other people were killed when the yacht sank off Sicily

Rescuers are continuing to investigate the sinking of a luxury yacht off Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo, Italy. Reuters

An Italian prosecutor has opened a manslaughter investigation into the deaths of British billionaire businessman Mike Lynch and six other people who were killed when a luxury yacht sank off Sicily this week.

The public prosecutor's office of Termini Imerese, headed by Ambrogio Cartosio, announced the investigation on Saturday, saying it was not aimed at any one person.

Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was also among those who died when the family's 56-metre-long boat, the Bayesian, capsized during a fierce, pre-dawn storm on Monday off Porticello, near Palermo.

Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda also lost their lives.

Fifteen people survived, including Mr Lynch's wife, whose company owned the Bayesian.

The captain James Cutfield and the other survivors have been questioned by the coastguard on behalf of prosecutors. None of them have commented publicly on what happened.

Ms Lynch's body was recovered on Friday by divers who have been searching the submerged vessel for the past five days.

The five other dead passengers were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday, while the body of the only crew member who died onboard, chef Recaldo Thomas, was found on Monday.

The sinking has puzzled naval marine experts, who say a boat like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini Navi, should have withstood the storm and in any case should not have sunk as quickly as it did.

Italian officials said they will be looking at the safety equipment that was on the sunken yacht.

During a press conference, prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano was asked whether there is a black box and if the hatches were left open.

According to a translation of the conference, he said: “We haven’t got exact information about the black box. It was extremely difficult to get inside some of the cabins and the yacht itself.

“The first phase of this inquiry will certainly concentrate on confirming the presence of such things and the retrieval of the bodies. We can’t reply with any certainty about that yet.”

Mr Cammarano added: “We can’t reveal anything at this stage but the facts will be confirmed by the later search among the wreckage.”

Maritime director of western Sicily Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda said the weather at the time of the yacht’s sinking was “abnormal” but there was nothing to suggest such an “extreme situation” would arise.

“This was an abnormal meteorological condition and as you can see from the internet there was forecasts from midnight to 4am, winds of a strength of five from the north-west and the west and a storm alert," he said. “But there wasn’t an alert of a tornado.”

He added: “Given that the conditions were such, there wasn’t anything to suggest there could be an extreme situation arising.

“There are vessels that can monitor, after all, these events and one would have thought that the captain had taken precautions.”