ROME, Aug 28 — The investigation into the deadly sinking of a UK tech tycoon’s superyacht off Sicily has widened to include two more crew members in addition to the captain, media reports said today.
Prosecutors on the Italian island are probing potential manslaughter offences over the sinking of the Bayesian yacht in a pre-dawn storm on August 19, which killed entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.
Captain James Cutfield, a New Zealand citizen who was one of 15 people who survived the tragedy, has been placed under investigation, his lawyer Aldo Mordiglia confirmed to AFP following media reports.
Engineer Tim Parker Eaton, who was in charge of the engine room that night, and a crewman on look-out named as Matthew Griffith have now also been placed under formal investigation, reports said.
Prosecutors on Saturday said their probe remained at an early stage, but have since declined to formally comment. Nobody has yet been charged.
Italian media said Parker Eaton — who is British — is accused of not having properly checked that the yacht’s windows were closed and watertight compartments activated.
Lynch, 59, had invited friends and family onto the boat to celebrate his recent acquittal in a massive US fraud case.
But the 56-metre yacht was struck by something akin to a mini-tornado as it was anchored off Porticello, near Palermo, and sank within minutes.
The body of the yacht’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was found shortly afterwards, and six people were reported missing.
Following a major search operation, divers pulled up the bodies of four of Lynch’s friends from the wreck — US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, and Jonathan Bloomer, the chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy.
Lynch’s body was recovered the day afterwards and the following day, that of his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Lynch’s wife survived.
The yacht, which had a 75-metre mast, currently lies on its side on the seabed, some 50 metres down.
The Sicilian coastguard said Tuesday it was carrying out checks on the site for potential pollution, but said so far there was no indication of fuel leaks. — AFP
