A crew member from Mike Lynch’s yacht has described being thrown overboard and the efforts to save passengers after a storm sank the vessel off the coast of Sicily earlier this month. The disaster resulted in the deaths of the British tech tycoon and six others.
Matthew Griffiths, who was on watch duty the night of the incident, told investigators that the crew did everything possible to save those on board the yacht, named the Bayesian, according to a report by Italian news agency Ansa.
Griffiths, along with the yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, and the ship engineer, Tim Parker Eaton, are under investigation by Italian authorities for possible manslaughter and shipwreck charges. Being under investigation does not mean they are guilty or that formal charges will necessarily follow.
“I woke up the captain when the wind reached 20 knots (23 mph/37 kph). He ordered us to wake everyone else,” Griffiths told investigators, as reported by Ansa.
“The yacht tilted, and we were thrown into the water. We managed to climb back on board and tried to rescue as many people as we could,” Griffiths added, describing the events of August 19, when the Bayesian was anchored near the Sicilian port of Porticello.
“We were walking on the boat’s walls. We saved who we could. Cutfield also saved the little girl and her mother,” he said, referring to passengers Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter. A total of 15 people survived the wreck.
Captain Cutfield chose to remain silent when questioned by prosecutors on Tuesday, his lawyers said, explaining that he was “exhausted” and that more time was needed to prepare a defense. Parker Eaton has not made any public comments about the investigation.
Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano suggested last week that the yacht was likely struck by a “downburst,” a powerful downward wind.
However, the sinking has puzzled naval experts, who noted that a yacht like the Bayesian, built by the prestigious Italian manufacturer Perini, should have been able to withstand such a storm and should not have sunk as rapidly as it did.
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Prosecutors in Termini Imerese, near Palermo, have stated that the investigation will take time, especially since the wreck has not yet been recovered from the sea.
