Experts have shared some surprising factors which may have caused the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht in August.
Six passengers onboard the boat, including tech tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, his daughter Hannah, 18, and chairman of Morgan Stanley international Jonathan Bloomer, died after the vessel sank when it was engulfed by a waterspout.
Investigators are focusing on how a sailing vessel deemed ‘unsinkable’ by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Prosecutors said the sinking was ‘extremely rapid’ and could have been due to a ‘downburst’ – a localized, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly on hitting the ground.
Now, an investigation by the New York Times has found other dangerous factors on the yacht which may have caused the tragedy.
The aluminum mast
A major feature of the Bayesian was the 237ft aluminum mast and rigging, towering above the boat.
Giovanni Costantino, chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini Navi, the company which made the Bayesian, denies it was a fault.
He told the New York Times: ‘The ship was an unsinkable ship. I say it, I repeat it.’
But the mast weighed an estimated 24 tonnes, which could have challenged the boat’s stability.
Tad Roberts, a naval architect with more than 40 years of experience, told the NYT: ‘When I first saw this, I couldn’t believe it. It made no sense to me.
‘We can look at it in hindsight and say they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. No, that’s not true.
‘This boat had definite shortcomings that kind of uniquely made it vulnerable to what happened.’
Design choices
Small details on the yacht may have contributed to the rapid sinking of the superyacht, experts said.
These include two tall glass doors onboard that could have quickly let water inside the vessel.
Air vents on the boat also could have sped up the sinking of the ‘unsinkable’ yacht, given they were nearby the waterline, experts said.
The storm
Another major factor was of course, the weather. Civil protection officials said they believe the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout.
The Italian Airforce previously said the sinking was most likely caused by a downburst.
Downbursts are powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm and spread out quickly once they hit the ground.
So, what happened?
At this point, there are multiple factors which could have contributed to the rapid sinking of the Bayesian, but it’s still being investigated.
Both Italian prosecutors and the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch are probing what happened to the superyacht.
The Bayesian is expected to be raised from the seabed costing at least £15 million in order to find more clarity on what led to the disaster.
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