The family of a chef killed in the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht in Italy last year have said they have “serious concerns about a series of failures”.
Family members of Recaldo Thomas, 59, a Canadian-Antiguan cook, said his death was “preventable” following the publication of an interim report into the sinking.
The report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) contains the fullest account yet of how the superyacht capsized and the last-ditch efforts of those on board to get out.
It also found that the boat may have been vulnerable to high winds, with gusts exceeding 70 knots (80.05mph) on the day of the incident.
These “vulnerabilities” were said to be “unknown to either the owner or the crew of Bayesian” as they were not included in the stability information book carried on board.
“(The family of Mr Thomas) have serious concerns about a series of failures evidently involved in the causes of this tragedy – failures in the design, safety certification and seaworthiness of the Bayesian, as well as the management by some of the crew to deal with a forecast mesocyclone storm,” lawyer James Healy-Pratt said.
“The family note that the Bayesian was an outlier in design, with a single mast structure, longer than the wingspan of a jumbo jet, that acted like an aerofoil in the storm conditions.”
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Mr Thomas was among seven people – including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah – who died when the yacht sank on 19 August last year, off the coast of Sicily during a storm.
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Work is now under way to recover the ship, although progress has been hampered after a diver recently died during salvage efforts.
MAIB principal investigator Simon Graves previously said it’s expected to be lifted and brought to shore by the end of May.
Chaos on board
The report, published Thursday, detailed the events of 18 and 19 August last year, how the Bayesian and its crew acted as a storm swept in and began tilting the boat overnight.
After the crew was woken up by the strong winds and waves, the captain prepared to manoeuvre the ship, the report said.
But winds were said to have suddenly spiked around 4.06am, causing the boat to “violently” tip 90 degrees in less than 15 seconds.
“People, furniture and loose items fell across the deck,” the report said, adding that in the carnage that followed, at least five people, including Mr Lynch, who owned the yacht, and the captain, were injured.
One of the crew members, who had been keeping a lookout when the storm struck, was tossed overboard into the sea.
After much of the furniture was thrown across the deck and uprooted from the rooms, two of the guests were forced to use “drawers as an improvised ladder” to escape one room.
Others similarly climbed up the walls to get out as water began flooding in over the rails, and entering the inside of the ship.
Across the capsized vessel, the report explained how various groups scrambled to escape.
At the port forward wheelhouse door, one of the deckhands who had been on the lookout that night helped lift two stewards onto the upper deck.
Not seeing anyone else inside, they jumped into the sea, and the door was seemingly shut behind them.
According to the report, with Bayesian now sinking, a number of guests and crew found themselves trapped in an air pocket by the same door.
It was only with the help of an injured guest on the outside that they were able to open the door and escape.
Elsewhere, the chief officer had found Mr Lynch and “pushed [him] through cascading water” to get him to the captain.
The pair managed to evacuate two other guests this way.
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However, amid the rough weather, the chief officer was swept to the back of the saloon.
The report details his precarious escape, jumping into the water, diving down and opening the sliding doors in the room to be able to swim free of the ship.
The report said the captain organised the “abandonment” of the ship, and as they floated there, some guests had to use cushions as improvised life rafts.
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Inquest proceedings in the UK are looking at the deaths of Mr Lynch and his daughter, as well as Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, who were all British nationals.
The others who died in the sinking were US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo.
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Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, were rescued.
The fatal boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a US trial after he was accused of a massive fraud over the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
