15-05-2025
Minutes Before Deadly Yacht Sinking, Deckhand Filmed Video of Looming Squall Before Alerting Skipper: Report
The U.K.'s Marine Accident Investigation Branch released their interim findings on Wednesday, May 14, which included a reconstruction of the final moments before the deadly Sicily yacht sinking
The investigation alleged that minutes before the vessel began to sink, a deckhand filmed the storm and posted it on social media before closing the hatches and waking up the skipper
When the yacht capsized, seven of the 22 people aboard diedMinutes before the luxury Bayesian yacht began sinking off the coast of Sicily, killing seven, a deckhand allegedly filmed the incoming storm and posted it on social media before closing the hatches and waking up the skipper, according to a new report.
The U.K.'s Marine Accident Investigation Branch released the interim findings of their safety investigation on Wednesday, May 14, which included a reconstruction of the final minutes before the ship sank.
The investigation found that at 3 a.m. local time on Aug. 19 — just over an hour before the ship tipped over and began to sink — a deckhand, identified as Matthew Griffiths by The New York Times, noticed that "thunderclouds and lightning" seemed to be coming in closer proximity to the yacht.
Ahead of the incident, local weather forecasts had predicted 'intense and persistent rain" accompanied by "strong wind gusts," according to the report — so the skipper left instructions to be woken up if the wind exceeded 20 knots, or about 23 miles per hour.
At the time the deckhand first noticed the approaching storm, the wind was still just 8 knots, or about 9 miles per hour.
Around 3:55 a.m., the deckhand allegedly took a video of the advancing storm and posted the footage to social media before closing hatches and the cockpit windows. By this time, the wind had reached 30 knots, or about 34 miles per hour, and the ship was beginning to lean to one side — and the deckhand ran to wake the skipper, which happened around 4 a.m.
At that point, the chief engineer had also woken up and went to the control room to try and maneuver the ship while the skipper attempted to steer from the fly bridge.
But within minutes, the wind picked up and by 4:06 a.m., the ship "violently heeled over" to 90 degrees, then sank.
Of the 12 passengers and 10 crew members who first set sail aboard the Bayesian on Aug. 14, seven were trapped and died when the boat sunk: British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, Hannah Lynch; New York City lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife, Neda; and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy; and yacht chef Recaldo Thomas.
The Italian manufacturer of the ship previously claimed that when run correctly, the Bayesian was 'unsinkable,' according to The New York Times.
The investigation found that some of the ship's vulnerabilities to weather were not known to the owner or crew, so they were unaware of the danger they faced with the approaching storm. Although questions had been raised about whether the boat was properly secured, the new report stated weather was the primary risk.
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Crew members all spoke with investigators in the weeks after the tragedy.
In addition to the safety investigation, a parallel criminal investigation is being led by the local prosecutor's in Sicily.
The deckhand as well as the ship's skipper and chief engineer are all reportedly under investigation for possible multiple manslaughter and negligent shipwreck charges, but have not yet been formally accused of any crime.
Read the original article on People
