The captain and two crew members now under investigation in connection with the sinking of the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily last month are reportedly sharing some of what they say happened as the tragedy unfolded, ultimately killing seven aboard.
According to multiple Italian news reports, sailor Matthew Griffiths, who was on watch duty at the time, and Tim Parker Eaton, the ship’s engineer, as well as captain James Cutfield have each spoken with investigators about what led up to the Bayesian going into the water.
The Italian coast guard previously said the vessel sank around 5 a.m. local time on Aug. 19 after a “violent storm” while near Porticello in northern Sicily.
Twelve passengers and 10 crew were aboard: Six of the passengers — including British tech businessman Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah as well as two couples — were killed along with the yacht’s chef, Renaldo Thomas.
Griffiths, speaking with investigators, said that “I woke up the captain when the wind was at 20 knots [23 mph]. He gave the order to wake everyone else up,” according to the La Stampa newspaper.
“Then I put away the cushions and plants,” Griffiths is quoted as saying. “I closed the glass windows of the lounge at the bow as well as the hatches.”
Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano has previously referred in a press conference to a “sudden and unexpected event” of weather before the sinking and said the yacht had been “hit by a downburst.”
Italian TV network RAI quoted Griffiths as telling investigators that the yacht’s crew all went into the sea because of the weather but “managed to climb back on board.”
“The ship tilted and we were thrown into the water. Then we … tried to save those we could,” he said, per La Stampa.
“The boat was tilted and we were walking on the walls,” he said. Similar comments were also reported by Ansa, an Italian news agency.
Cutfield likewise said the Bayesian listed 45 degrees and then fell sharply to the right, according to what he told investigators as quoted by the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
According to RAI, citing what Griffiths told authorities, some of the crew created a kind of human chain to reach the passenger area from the Bayesian’s bridge in order to get some people off the yacht.
Eaton, the engineer, told investigators that the Bayesian’s hatches were closed when the weather hit, except for an entry to the engine, as quoted by Corriere della Sera.
It remains unclear how and why the superyacht succumbed to the weather in what some witnesses have said was mere minutes.
The Bayesian’s captain and Parker Eaton and Griffiths have reportedly all been placed under investigation for potential multiple manslaughter and negligent shipwreck charges — but that is not the same as being charged with a crime and none of the men have been formally accused of wrongdoing.
They have not commented publicly.
Borner, captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, whose boat was nearby at the time, previously said that he noticed the weather deteriorated very rapidly around 3 a.m. local time on Aug. 19.
“The weather turned very quickly and reached us even more quickly,” he said. “And the Bayesian was there at the time. It was anchored like us. We kept an eye on it. We had turned the engine on to maintain our position in case the anchor didn’t hold and were carefully watching it to keep at a distance from it as well. We were the only two ships out in the bay.”
Borner and a passenger saw a red flare and then a white one. It prompted Borner and his first mate to board a tender, and they headed in the direction where the Bayesian had been.
“We first found things floating in the water like cushions and chairs and stuff,” Borner said. “And then we saw a flickering light. This was a life raft with a light on the top. And they also waved at us with a torch.”
“So we went there,” he added, “and then we found the crew and part of the passengers — 15 people in a 12-person raft, including a little baby.”
