Mike Lynch yacht sinking: Witness blames ‘extreme mast’

Dutch Captain Karsten Börner, whose boat was anchored near Lynch’s Bayesianhe told him Financial Times that the superyacht appeared to have stability problems.

“The center of gravity is too high with this extreme mast,” he explained, while rejecting the Italian coast guard’s initial view that Bayesian he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“We were in the same place,” Börner added. “I have two masts and they are 28 and 29 meters above the deck, she has one, 73 meters (239.5 feet) above the deck.”

Authorities are looking into possible reasons why Lynch’s yacht sank so quickly when other nearby boats appeared to weather the same storm without issue.

The 56 meter long superyacht was carrying 22 passengers and crew. Börner rescued 15 passengers and said he was told the ship sank in less than two minutes.

He also described the wind as “violent, very violent”, saying FT that wind speeds likely reached hurricane strength as the “tons of water” dropped.

“I never saw it was a water tornado,” he said.

The CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the company that built it Bayesianpreviously said for FT that it was designed to be stable with its tall mast and suggested that the crew had not taken adequate safety precautions.

But Börner said the crew told him they had “shut down the ship,” according to him FT.

Italian Sea Group did not immediately respond Of luck requested comment on Börner’s remarks and declined to comment FT.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Italy have opened an investigation into the shipwreck and multiple charges of manslaughter, which are the equivalent of manslaughter charges.

The Italian coastguard confirmed on Friday that it had recovered the body of Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah. In addition to Lynch and his daughter, the other victims included Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, American jewelry designer Neda Morvillo; and chef Recaldo Thomas.

On Saturday, Italian prosecutors told reporters that the emergency began at 4:38 a.m. local time when a red missile was fired and seen by the coast guard, adding that the passengers were likely asleep at the time.

Deputy Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano told reporters that one crew member was on duty, as required, when the “really sudden” storm hit.

chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio The said ship tracking data showed that the yacht started to leave the anchor just before 4am, then traveled about 360 meters in five minutes to where it finally sank about 15 minutes after that .

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