TRAGIC CLAIM
Bayesian superyacht maker says his boats are ‘UNSINKABLE’ & slams crew for making key ‘mistakes’ before it sank in mins
Divers recovered a fifth body from the wreck this morning
THE boss of the firm that built the Bayesian superyacht has said it is "unsinkable" after it plunged to the bottom of the ocean on Monday killing at least six people.
Giovanni Costantino has slammed the crew onboard the vessel for making key "mistakes" before it sunk in just minutes.
11
11
11
11
11
Mr Costantino, who is CEO at The Italian Sea Group, accused the crew of making “mistakes” and failing to “close the doors and hatches” of the superyacht.
He said boats built by his firms are "safest in the most absolute sense".
Mr Costantino told The Sun: "Modern sailing ships, especially high-tech ones like the Perini, are designed to be extremely safe and stable.
“Even in very critical conditions, if procedures are followed, a sailing yacht like the Bayesian will return to an upright position.
READ MORE ON YACHT TRAGEDY
"However, if the ship takes on water, this stability is compromised.
“Where the water entered will be determined by the investigators.
"What is certain is that the ship took on hundreds of thousands of litres of water."
Mr Constantino disputed claims the tornado had not been forecast and came as a shock and said it was "widely predicted".
Most read in The Sun
He emphasised that local fisherman didn't venture out due to the weather conditions and that it was expected that the ship would need to take safety precautions.
Mr Constantino also insisted guests should not have been in their cabins during the storm, adding: “In an emergency situation, guests should have been in the common areas rather than in their cabins, as cabins become dangerous when the ship tilts.
"It is impossible to exit the cabins when the ship is tilted."
Mr Constantino also disputed widely reported claims that the ship sank in just 60 seconds - instead saying logs show it took 16 minutes to go down.
He told The Sun: “The ship was anchored, and at one point it seems the anchor failed, causing it to drift 400 metres in four minutes.
"By this point, the ship had already taken on water, so yes, it took six minutes to sink. Let’s say 16 minutes to sink completely.
“From the papers everything started at 3.54am and ended at 4.10am.”
The Italian Sea Group CEO slammed the crew for making “mistakes” and failing to “close the doors and hatches”.
He added: “The crew did not handle the adverse weather conditions properly and did not follow the correct procedures to ensure safety.
It comes as unearthed video of a similar boat tipping on its side in a storm shows exactly how a vessel like the Bayesian can withstand extreme weather.
Mr Constantino continued: “The hull and deck should have been sealed by closing all doors and hatches.
“After placing the guests in the ship’s designated emergency assembly area, the engines should have been started, and the anchor should have been lifted or automatically released.
It comes as...
- The bodies of Mike Lynch, Jonathan and Judy Bloomer and Chris and Neda Morvillo were reportedly recovered from the wreck
- Lynch's shell-shocked wife revealed how she was awoken by a 'tilt' as the yacht sank
- The captain of the Bayesian broke his silence on the horror storm and was quizzed by cops for over two hours
- Experts believe the yacht's 'tallest mast in the world' may have contributed to the disaster after a freak ‘Black Swan’ weather event struck
- Pictures showed the tiny raft that saved up to 15 people
- Frantic text messages from the survivors revealed the chaos
“The bow should have been pointed into the wind, and the keel should have been lowered."
Mr Constantino said he has made himself available to speak with the public prosecutor and investigators.
Footage shows a similarly sized yacht, also with a long mast, tilting on its side during stormy weather in Auckland, New Zealand.
This boat however appears to right itself, moving back towards a sitting position as it counterbalances.
Questions have been raised about why the keel - a fin-like backbone underneath the boat which helps keep it balanced - was raised on the Bayesian.
11
11
Usually only lifted as a vessel steers into harbour, the keel can stop a boat from capsizing during storms when down.
Five bodies belonging to the six missing passengers have been recovered so far, with the yacht chef also found dead on Monday, as divers search today for the final person.
The Italian Sea Group owns the firm that built the Bayesian, Perini Navi, with Mr Costantino saying: "Being the manufacturer of Perini [boats], I know very well how the boats have always been designed and built.
"And as Perini is a sailing ship... sailing ships are renowned to be the safest ever."
CCTV shows doomed yacht engulfed by storm as rescuers fear missing Brits still trapped in cabins
He said the boats' structure and keel make them "unsinkable bodies".
Mr Costantino said news of the sinking "put me in a state of sadness on one side and of disbelief on the other".
"This incident sounds like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact," he added.
He suggested the boat had been taking on water and "all it took was another guest" to turn her over.
"She then straightened very briefly before going down," he told Italian TV.
Divers set out from Porticello Harbour this morning for day four of the rescue efforts to recover the fifth and six passengers.
Pictures showed them taking the fifth body inland at around 8.45am local time after they were located on the wreck last night.
It was later confirmed to be Brit tycoon Mike Lynch, with the remaining four named as Jonathan and Judy Bloomer and Chris and Neda Morvillo, according to reports on the ground.
11
The final missing body awaiting to be recovered is thought to be Mr Lynch's teenage daughter Hannah.
Initial reports claimed the first two bodies found on Wednesday were that of Mike and Hannah, Sicily’s civil protection chief Salvo Cocina told .
They were found trapped behind a mattress inside one of the cabins in the hull, local media reported.
But Italian outlet reported that the four bodies recovered were the two married couples.
The coast guard appeared to confirm these reports today, according to Sky and Reuters.
Italian authorities have yet to publicly confirm the identities of any of the bodies.
Rescuers spent days scouring the almost perfectly intact sunken boat, lying some 160ft underwater on the seabed, with little success.
Because of floating debris, narrow entrances and a 10-minute time limit per dive, rescuers struggled to reach the cabins where they believed the six people were trapped.
Officials held out hope there was a chance for rescue if those trapped in the yacht were surviving inside air pockets.
After sending down an underwater drone on Wednesday and using a hydraulic jack to prize open sliding glass doors in the lounge - they finally reached the suites.
Who is Mike Lynch?
FORMER billionaire entrepreneur Mike Lynch was reportedly confirmed dead on Thursday morning after a £14m luxury yacht capsized in a tornado off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning.
He is thought to be among the five bodies recovered from the sunken boat alongside Morgan Stanley chief Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda.
The tech tycoon, dubbed "Britain's Bill Gates", was one of the 22 people sailing onboard the £166,000 a week vessel.
Lynch, 59, was a serial entrepreneur having founded and sold tech and software companies with one of his biggest being Autonomy Corporation.
He was also been involved in Invoke Capital and cybersecurity company Darktrace.
As well as being awarded an OBE for his services to enterprise in 2006.
Born in Ilford, Lynch had a firefighter father from County Cork and a nurse mother from County Tipperary.
Away from work, Mike was happily married to wife Angela Bacares and the pair had two children together.
Angela is among those who have been rescued on the superyacht.
In 2023, the Sunday Times rich list set the couple's value at £852m.
But Mike was extradited to the US on fraud charges back in 2023 with a judge setting his bail at £79m.
Just weeks ago, Lynch was acquitted of criminal charges by a jury in San Francisco after a 12-year legal battle over the $11bn sale of his firm, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
The doomed yacht, named Bayesian, is also said to be owned by the Lynch family.
The ultra-luxurious yacht plunged beneath waves in the early hours of Monday after being hammered by a rare "Black Swan" waterspout - a freak twister-like event.
Witnesses said the 246ft tall mast was hit by a tornado, toppling the boat and causing it to capsize before it sank to the seabed in just minutes.
Fifteen of the 22 people onboard were rescued when a smaller nearby boat saw them in distress, helping 11 people clinging to a life raft onboard.
Lynch's wife - Angela Bacares, 57 - was one of those who managed to escape in the tiny inflatable raft as the vessel capsized.
Italian officials have launched an investigation, as have the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch, into how the superyacht sank.
Four Brit specialists have been deployed to the site in Palermo to investigate.
Read More on The Sun
Maritime experts agreed the yacht may have been sunk by a freak "Black Swan" waterspout which would have appeared without warning.
Captain of the doomed yacht James Cutfield, 51, was grilled by cops for over two hours after divers discovered the boat's keel was raised - a structural backbone of the boat which could have affected its stability during the storm.
11
11
11
Topics