The Italian Sea Group has filed a lawsuit in a Sicilian court against the widow of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, reports The Telegraph. The yacht builder is demanding 456 million euros in damages and claims that the crew and the operating company of the superyacht "Bayesian" are responsible for its sinking.
Essentially, the crew are accused of serious failings that led to the sinking of the Bayesian. However, it is questionable whether the crew could have known about certain weaknesses in the 56-metre yacht.
Lynch died in August 2024 together with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and five other people when the ship, which cost around 35 million euros, was capsized and sank during a storm off the Sicilian coast. Angela Bacares Lynch, who survived the sinking, is the legal owner of Revtom, the company registered on the Isle of Man that owned the ship. In addition to Revtom, the lawsuit is also directed against Captain James Cutfield and crew members Timothy Eaton and Matthew Griffiths.
Allegation of gross negligence
The Italian Sea Group claims in its statement of claim that the Bayesian was "unsinkable". However, the crew made a series of serious mistakes that led to the capsizing. According to the lawsuit, the crew failed to close hatches, heed weather warnings and lower the keel of the ship. These omissions meant that the ship was unable to right itself in strong winds. The statement of claim speaks of "incredible and unspeakable errors and omissions" by the crew. The company argues that Revtom, as the owner company, is also liable for the actions of the crew. The yacht builder, whose majority owner is the Italian millionaire Giovanni Costantino, has filed the lawsuit together with its holding company GC Holding Company at the court in Termini Imerese, near the site of the sinking.
Contradictory test results
The depiction of the Italian shipyard stands in contrast on a report by the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch. The interim report published by the British government describes that the investigators examined the stability of the 56-metre sailing yacht "Bayesian" using a model based on the Stability Information Book (SIB) approved by the British authorities in 2008 and discovered a crucial lack of information.
The SIB therefore contains stability curves and operating limits, in particular for operation under sail (with lowered keel) and shows which heeling angles are considered safe in these conditions. Stability angles between 84.3 degrees and 92.3 degrees are specified for three wind speeds. However, the SIB specifies not explicit a weak point or limit values for the situation under engine/without sail and with the keel raised (as was presumably the case on the night of the accident). According to the report, the crew could therefore only "guess" the behaviour of the ship in this configuration.
At the same time, the study points out how strongly the 72-metre mast acted as a wind attack surface (around 50 percent of the wind heeling moment in crosswinds) and that, assuming a raised keel, the calculated stability angle was significantly lower (70.6 degrees) than stated in the SIB. In addition, a gusty crosswind speed of more than 63.4 knots was already capable of causing a capsize, which was below the extreme values that occurred in the storm.
Alleged slump in sales
The Italian Sea Group claims to have suffered a "ruinous" loss of revenue and profits. The company's share price has collapsed, as has the value of the Perini Navi brand, which Bayesian built in 2008. The company had taken over Perini Navi out of insolvency in 2021 and planned to sell yachts worth almost one billion euros by 2028. Since the accident, however, sales of Perini yachts have fallen to zero. TISG has not been able to sell a single Perini yacht, the ship owners involved in ongoing negotiations have disappeared, and the company has not received a single expression of interest from the group of international brokers it works with. The company blames the negative publicity following the sinking for the slump in business.
