Investigators ask if crew failed to tell passengers superyacht was sinking

Investigation into disaster that killed seven including tech tycoon Mike Lynch considers charges of multiple manslaughter and negligence

Prosecutors are investigating whether the captain and crew of Mike Lynch’s superyacht failed to alert passengers that the vessel was sinking when it was hit by a violent storm.
A manslaughter investigation was announced on Saturday amid questions about how six passengers – including the British tech tycoon and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah – died in the disaster off the coast of Sicily, while all but one of the crew survived.
Investigators in Italy will scrutinise whether the Bayesian crew did enough to alert passengers who were sleeping in cabins below deck when a storm hit the yacht in the early hours of Monday.
They said that five of the victims were found huddled together in a cabin on the port side of the ship, closest to the surface, suggesting that they may have been searching for the last pockets of air as the yacht started to submerge.
Raffaele Cammarano, one of two prosecutors leading the case, said that the passengers “were asleep below deck and the others weren’t”.
Asked if Mr Lynch and his guests were warned of the approaching storm, he said: “That’s precisely what we’re trying to ascertain from the statements made by the survivors.”
Data from the ship’s Automatic Identification System reportedly showed a 16-minute period between the storm hitting the 184ft-long Bayesian at 3.50am on Monday as it was anchored off Porticello, on Sicily’s north coast, and the vessel sinking at 4.06am.
Ambrogio Cartosio, the chief prosecutor in the case, announced at a press conference on Saturday that he had opened an investigation into multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence, although he stressed that no individual has yet been charged.
Calling the sinking a “very grave disaster”, the prosecutor said it would be even more serious if the investigation showed it was caused “by behaviours that were not aligned to the responsibilities that everyone needs to take in shipping”.
He added: “For me, it is probable that offences were committed, that it could be a case of manslaughter, but we can only establish that if you give us the time to investigate.”
James Cutfield, the yacht’s New Zealander skipper, and the other survivors have been questioned this week by authorities.
Mr Cutfield was described by his brother as “a very good sailor” who was “very well respected” throughout the Mediterranean.
Marine experts have been puzzled by the speed with which the superyacht, which was constructed in 2008 by Italian manufacturer Perini Navi, sank after being hit by the intense storm. 
A large yacht that was anchored nearby escaped the storm unscathed and helped in rescuing the Bayesian’s survivors.
Prosecutors said that as part of their investigation, the yacht would be recovered from where it lies on the seabed at a depth of 165ft, about half a mile off the coast.
On Saturday, Sasha Murray, the chief stewardess on the Bayesian, paid tribute to Hannah, saying she had a “deep and loving” connection to her parents.
She said: “While swimming with them she often said, if anything ever happened she would save them.”