An investigation into the sinking of a superyacht in Sicily owned by Irish-born British tech billionaire Mike Lynch has found bad weather was not severe enough to cause its deadly capsizing, according to reports of the preliminary findings.
Lynch (59) and his daughter Hannah (18) were among seven people who died when the Bayesian sank in August 2024 off the coast of Sicily during a storm.
Lynch’s father was a fireman from Co Cork and his mother was a nurse from Co Tipperary.
Italian prosecutors appointed experts to help establish the severity of the weather on the night the boat sank.
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Sky News reported that investigators found it amounted to “little more than a squall, a sudden increase in wind speed that precedes thunderstorms and downpours”, which should have been manageable for the crew.
According to the preliminary findings reported by the broadcaster, the yacht sank due to the crew’s actions, underestimating the weather and certain safety devices not being activated properly.
Italian prosecutors previously said examining the yacht for evidence would provide key information for its investigation into possible charges of manslaughter and negligent shipwreck.
[ Diver dies during salvage operation to recover Mike Lynch’s Bayesian superyachtOpens in new window ]
The Italian Sea Group, the company that built the yacht, has denied that the boat had any design flaws and has sought to pin the blame on the crew, suggesting that someone left a hatch open near the waterline that may have allowed large quantities of water to enter the hull.
The prosecutor’s office has been investigating the actions of three crew members.
The Bayesian sank near Palermo in the early hours of August 24th, 2024.
Those on board had been celebrating Lynch’s acquittal on US fraud charges related to the sale of his software company, Autonomy.
Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, survived.
The seven victims included the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer; Lynch’s lawyer, Chris Morvillo, and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
Lynch had founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of carrying out a large fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
