Bayesian captain James Cutfield 'says he did everything he could to save passengers' during sinking disaster and is living through his 'darkest days' as he leaves Italy
- James Cutfield was one of 22 people on board the doomed superyacht Bayesian
The captain of the doomed Bayesian superyacht that capsized and sank amid a storm off the island of Sicily earlier this month has insisted he did everything he could to save his crew.
James Cutfield was one of 22 people on board the Bayesian when it was devastated by a freak waterspout just a few hundred metres away from Porticello port in the early hours of August 19.
The New Zealand-born captain managed to evacuate the vessel along with 14 others but seven people, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, were trapped on board and died after it sank.
The 51-year-old was put under investigation for manslaughter and culpable shipwreck earlier this week along with two other crewmembers and declined to answer questions from prosecutors on Tuesday.
But friends of the skipper told Italian outlet Corriere that Cutfield had told them he did everything he could to prevent the ship from sinking and to save the passengers on board.
They added the Kiwi sailor is living through 'the darkest days of his life' amid the speculation that he could have in any way been responsible for their deaths.
James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealander, was in charge of the Bayesian when it sank off the coast of Sicily during a storm
Skipper James Cutfield (pictured) is being formally investigated for shipwreck and multiple manslaughter
The tragic sinking of the Bayesian yacht (pictured) cost seven people their lives on August 19
A handout photo made available on August 19 by Perini Navi Press Office shows the 'Bayesian' sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah both died in the Bayesian tragedy when the superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily
A handout video grab made available by Vigili del Fuoco (VVF), the Italian National Fire Brigade, shows rescue personnel of the special unit of divers of the National Fire Brigade and divers of the Italian fire brigade preparing to resume inspections of the Bayesian yacht's wreck
The captain flew out of Palermo on Thursday, 10 days after the British tech tycoon and six other people were killed in the sudden sinking.
Cutfield left the Sicilian capital on a private jet, an investigative source said, and it was later revealed that he headed for his home on the Spanish island of Mallorca where he lives with his wife.
He lost his passport in the disaster earlier this month but he was provided with a copy of the document by officials in Italy so he could leave the country.
Cutfield, along with ship engineer Tim Parker-Eaton, 56, and crewmember Matthew Griffiths, 22, are under investigation but are not facing any charges.
They therefore have no obligation to stay in Italy but have to nominate lawyers so that the authorities have a way of remaining in contact with them.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-foot) yacht, capsized and went down within minutes of being hit by the shocking pre-dawn storm while anchored close to the northern Sicilian coast.
Along with Mike and Hannah Lynch, the ship's chef, Antiguan-Canadian Recaldo Thomas, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda all lost their lives.
The body of the chef was found floating in the water on the day the yacht went down.
The other bodies were found days later by specialist divers in two cabins inside the yacht.
The sinking has puzzled naval marine experts, who said a vessel like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm and, in any case, should not have sunk as quickly as it did.
Speaking to The Times on Tuesday, Cutfield's lawyer Aldo Mordiglia said his client 'exercised his right to remain silent'.
'There were two reasons. He is understandably very shaken up, and secondly, us lawyers were only appointed yesterday and we need to acquire information we do not have in order to defend him.'
Ship engineer Tim Parker-Eaton, 56 (left), is also under investigation
Another British crew member, Matthew Griffiths, is under investigation after the £30m Bayesian sunk off the coast of Sicily
Recaldo Thomas, chef on the Bayesian, was the first person to be found dead after the yacht sank
Judy and Jonathan Bloomer died on the Bayesian as it keeled over in the water
The bodies of Neda and Chris Morvillo, pictured in 2018, were also retrieved last week
A handout video grab made available by Vigili del Fuoco (VVF), the Italian National Fire Brigade, shows fire brigade's cave divers resuming their dives into the sea in the search of the last missing person from the Bayesian shipwreck
Griffiths is said to have been on the night watch when disaster struck at around 4am, and there was speculation that crewmembers could have left a hatch or door open that led to the flooding.
But Stephen Edwards, who previously captained the Bayesian between 2015 - 2020, said he was 'one hundred per cent' sure the hull would not have been left open at night, adding that there are no opening windows or portholes on board.
While avoiding 'contributing to the wild speculation' around the incident, he assured that the vessel was 'sound and seaworthy by design, and to my knowledge well maintained as such', claiming instead that the yacht's limitations may have been reached in the inclement weather conditions.
'Heeling (the yacht) to more than around 45 degrees while in normal operational state could result in flooding and subsequent loss if the flooding could not be controlled,' the former skipper wrote in a post on the sailing news website Scuttlebutt.
Heeling is a technical term referring to how a vessel 'leans' or is tipped to one side, usually caused by the force of wind on the sails.
'The downflooding angle for Bayesian was around 40-45 degrees… much less than the Angle of Vanishing Stability [whereby the vessel cannot return to the upright].
'So, unless the vent dampers are closed (which with HVAC systems and generator running they would NOT be as they need to be open for that), the vessel will start to flood rapidly if heeled more than the downflooding angle,' he wrote.
Matthews added that poor weather conditions 'could have created these extreme circumstances' that can occur with 'very little warning' and 'being so localised are difficult to prepare for, leaving a very short time for the crew to react'.
The Bayesian only had one shell door in the hull, he added, noting that it could only be opened in 'flat calm conditions', meaning it was certainly 'not open at night'.
'How the vessel came to be taken outside her operation limits is what the investigators will need to determine, which I'm sure they will,' Edwards concluded.
Former captain of the Bayesian Stephen Edwards shared his 'notes' on the tragic sinking
The Bayesian, which later sank off the Sicilian capital Palermo, is seen in Santa Flavia, Italy August 18, 2024, hours before the disaster
Italian Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, right, attends a press conference on the shipwreck of the Bayesian in Termini Imerese, Sicily, Aug. 24, 2024
A handout video grab made available by Vigili del Fuoco (VVF), the Italian National Fire Brigade, shows rescue personnel of the special unit of divers of the National Fire Brigade and divers of the Italian fire brigade resuming inspections of the Bayesian yacht's wreck
Mario Scopesi, the lawyer representing British crewmembers Parker-Eaton and Griffiths, told MailOnline his clients had also left Sicily amid the ongoing investigation.
'The crew all left Sicily on Wednesday and have been allowed to return home with no restrictions from the prosecutors.
'I had a brief meeting with Tim and Matthew in Sicily before they left and they were doing well but obviously tired from the situation which has left them very drained.
'They are both very professional in their job and it would be wrong of me to pass any opinion on what happened, that is up to the investigation but what I will say is that they were in a situation where extreme weather played an important role.
'Both will do their best to provide us and the prosecutors with all the elements they can remember from what happened that night but they are still confused.
'I can categorically deny claims that they left so they wouldn't have to speak to the investigating authorities It was all perfectly transparent and cooperative.'
Scopesi explained to MailOnline that he was appointed by Revtom, the company that owns the Bayesian superyacht and whose sole director is Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares, who survived the disaster.
He added: 'The weather will play a key part in any eventual trial and the role of both my clients will also be investigated but that is a job for the prosecutors and we will see what the consultants and technicians have to say.
'All I will add is that both my clients were awake at time of the storm but we need to understand the impact the weather had on the situation and what should or shouldn't have been done.
'The boat was in perfect condition and the crew are all experts, I hope that both my clients will return to sailing as soon as possible but for the time being they have been allowed home.
'They have cooperated fully with the prosecutors, and they will do so in the future but this investigation will take a long time. It will take major technical investigations to reconstruct this complex shipwreck.
'Things will move very slowly, the autopsies will happen shortly and then the next step will be the raising of the yacht at some stage but that won't happen for a few months.'
