Bayesian's last moments: Superyacht sank with extreme winds

Bayesian's last moments: Superyacht sank with extreme winds

A report on the tragedy of the luxury super yacht Bayesian

Suddenly storm-like winds have thrown the luxury super yacht Bayesian, which sank in August off the coast of Sicily in August. A preliminary report on this accident found that the boat had "vulnerability" compared to extreme winds that were unknown to the owner and the crew.

background of the tragedy

The 56 -meter -long sailing yacht belonged to the British technology mogul Mike Lynch and was about half a kilometer from Porticello port on the northern Italian island when it sank. In this accident, seven people died, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.

Details of the accident

the Preliminary Report of the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch (Maib) provides a detailed description of the hours before the sudden cap of the Bayesian as well as the desperate attempts to escape the 12 guests and 10 crew members.

On the evening of August 13, when the guests and some crew members went to rest, the lake was calm and the wind was light, but a thunderstorm was predicted. The captain of the Bayesian, James Cutfield, instructed the night watch to wake it up when the wind speed rose over 37 km/h or when the boat started to pull the anchor.

The sudden turn

At around 3 a.m., a wake -up noticed that storm clouds and flashes approached, while the wind from the west blew at about 14 km/h. An hour later the wind rose to 55 km/h. At 3:55 a.m., the guard post filmed the approaching storm and posted the video on social media before he closed the cockpit windows and front doors to protect the interior of the yacht from rain.

statements of eyewitnesses described angry gusts and storm -like winds that left an avalanche of ruins near the pier. At 3:57 a.m. the yacht began to pull its anchor, and the guard posted the captain and other crew members. Some guests were also woken up by the storm.

The dramatic attempts to escape

With a sudden wind force of over 128 km/h, the yacht tipped "violently" into a 90-degree angle in less than 15 seconds at 4:06 a.m. As a result, people, furniture and other loose objects were thrown over the deck. The report indicates that “there was no sign of flooding inside the Bayesian, until water started over the tax bristle and flowed down into the inner rooms within seconds.”

The guests and the crew desperately tried to leave the falling ship. Two guests used furniture drawers as a ladder to escape from their cabin. The survivors drove in the water and used pillows as swimming aids until the responsible officer of the yacht was able to separate and inflate a rescue flow.

rescue and tragedy

The captain of a nearby ship reacted to an emergency signal of the rescue raft and saved the survivors before informing the coast guard. Seven people died in this accident, including the cook of the Yacht Recaldo Thomas and the director of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer, and their wives. Cutfield and 14 other people survived sinking, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares.

results of the investigation

The examination showed that winds were sufficient at a speed of 117 km/h to tip the Bayesian beyond the point of the rescue. It was also found that the yacht could have been susceptible to lighter winds. "These vulnerability (in operation with sailing sails, high center and 10% consumption material on board) were not identified in the stability information book, which was carried on board," the report stated. "As a result, these vulnerability were not known to the owner or the Bayesian crew."

marine rescue and future measures

At the moment, experts in shipping are working on recovering the yacht out of the ocean to better understand what happened.