Prosecutors in Italy are investigating the captain of a superyacht that sank throughout a storm off Sicily final week, killing seven folks
ROME — Prosecutors in Italy are investigating the captain of a superyacht that sank throughout a storm off Sicily final week, killing seven folks, on attainable expenses together with manslaughter, his lawyer mentioned Monday.
James Cutfield, the 51-year-old New Zealand nationwide who was captain of the Bayesian, was amongst 15 survivors of the Aug. 19 sinking that killed British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah and 5 others.
Cutfield is being investigated for attainable manslaughter and culpable shipwreck, mentioned lawyer Aldo Mordiglia, one of two attorneys appointed for the captain’s protection.
Mordiglia mentioned Cutfield, who already has been questioned, could be questioned once more by prosecutors on Tuesday. He declined to debate the technique for the protection.
Underneath Italian legal guidelines, being underneath investigation doesn’t indicate any guilt, and doesn’t essentially result in prison expenses.
On Saturday, chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed that an investigation had been launched. He mentioned his group would think about every attainable factor of duty together with these of the captain, the crew, people in cost of supervision and the yacht’s producer.
The 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged luxurious yacht went down close to the Mediterranean island in southern Italy. Investigators are specializing in how a crusing vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its producer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank whereas a close-by sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Prosecutors mentioned the occasion was “extraordinarily fast” and will have been a “downburst” — a localized, highly effective wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out quickly upon hitting the floor.
The crew was saved, apart from the chef, whereas six passengers have been trapped in the hull.