Italian prosecutors are investigating the captain of a superyacht owned by British tech magnate Mike Lynch that sank off the coast of Sicily last week during a severe storm, resulting in the deaths of Lynch and six others.
James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealand national, is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck, according to La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera.
Magistrates questioned Cutfield on Sunday for the second time in a week, reportedly for more than two hours.
Prosecutors may also investigate a crew member on duty during the storm and survived.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) superyacht, was carrying 22 people when it capsized and sank Monday following a pre-dawn storm while anchored off northern Sicily.
Fifteen people survived, including Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the yacht. Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was among those who died.
While the yacht was struck by a sudden weather event, Ambrogio Cartosio, head of the public prosecutor’s office in Termini Imerese, said it is plausible that crimes of manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence occurred.
Maritime law places full responsibility for the vessel, crew, and all onboard with the captain.
Cutfield and his eight surviving crew members have not yet made any public statements about the incident.
“The Bayesian was built to handle any weather conditions,” Franco Romani, a nautical architect who was part of the design team, told La Stampa in an interview.
He suggested that the yacht likely took on water through an open side hatch.
Romani added that the crew underestimated the severity of the weather and should have ensured all openings were sealed and the anchor removed before the storm hit.
