Italy - Sailing yacht sank off Italian coast, 15 rescued, 7 missing, 19 August 2024

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My thoughts about the captain, is that it’s not like a coach where there are multiple drivers. The captain will have perhaps had a few drinks within reason with the guests at the meal and then gone to bed after sailing and supervising moorings etc all day. It would be the bosun and other deckhands doing the night shift when it’s moored. It’s likely they will have woken the captain, but perhaps there was not enough time. Whilst it’s the captain who was supervising, we have no idea when the boat dropped anchor and who was responsible for overseeing that, who was awake- how skilled they were in understanding incoming weather, if there was a mechanical issue that prevented the keel from being dropped- the questions could go on and on. We have a lot of people investigating it from several different countries and it’s likely answers will be forthcoming quite rapidly- as it currently seems far to similar to the titanic- an unsinkable ship that didn’t see incoming problems.
Putting on a life jacket and jumping overboard into what is relatively warm water, was a survivable option- the fact so many were still in cabins shows their belief they would be safe in this unsinkable super yacht. I’m sure somewhere someone is currently running a model simulation and dumping water on the boat with and without the keel activated to see what happens. One thing that has come out from the black box is the broken anchor 14 minutes before it sank- did they raise the keel at that point, due to a loose anchor chain swinging below?
 
branmuffin said:
I also think the design, which was lauded as a masterpiece had something to do with it: very beamy for the length, mast manufactured more than the usual 1.5 ratio, and having the keel partially up.
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snipped.

I read a comment by a boat designer that the real reason for super-yachts having these tall masts isn't because of any functionality they provide. Rather, a lot of yacht ownership is about bragging rights and status so wealthy buyers like them because of how impressive they look.
 
Just read an interesting post- when looking at the floor plans above, I mentioned one of the life rafts will have been the tender- it didn’t even occur to me that if they were trying to get the tender out, that would be one of the open hatches letting water flood in midship and cause an even worse toppling. It still doesn’t excuse the fact that IMO the priority of they knew they needed lifeboats out should have been to get everyone on deck first and in a life jacket, before worrying about accessing and releasing lifeboats.
 
ch_13 said:
snipped.

I read a comment by a boat designer that the real reason for super-yachts having these tall masts isn't because of any functionality they provide. Rather, a lot of yacht ownership is about bragging rights and status so wealthy buyers like them because of how impressive they look.
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It is impressive and the reason photos were taken shortly beforehand- the mast however also had a counterbalance, that wasn’t down- although I’m holding my thoughts on when and why that happened.
 
I have a lot of questions about the sail, and also about the motors, once the weather looks iffy, get to a safe port.

My sailing experience is limited to a small catamaran we used to tool around the small lake by our house. Even that, we went in if it went grey.

I wonder if the captain was more complacent in an "unsinkable" ship.
 
ch_13 said:
RSBM.

Considering there was a lot of warning that a storm was incoming, I certainly hope this isn't true.
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He is the supervisor and most experienced and qualified of a team of people. He is not going to be on duty 24/7, I’m sure he was woken (we don’t know when), but there is 0% chance he had been sailing the group around all day and stayed up until 4am- and even if he did, exhaustion would have set in. I don’t know all the ins and outs of maritime law- but many captains do work the day shift (as that’s when their skills are most needed) and get woken in emergencies overnight, or in the case of cruise ships that move overnight and dock during the day vice versa. From cruise ships to yachts- the captain is also allowed a drink and a meal as long as he is not classed as drunk and in charge of a vehicle. The yacht was not moving or docking, it was effectively parked for the night.

I suppose that was sort of my last point- how experienced and confident were those below him to spot an incoming weather emergency and wake him early enough.
 
Ruthbullock said:
He is the supervisor and most experienced and qualified of a team of people. He is not going to be on duty 24/7, I’m sure he was woken (we don’t know when), but there is 0% chance he had been sailing the group around all day and stayed up until 4am- and even if he did, exhaustion would have set in. I don’t know all the ins and outs of maritime law- but many captains do work the day shift (as that’s when their skills are most needed) and get woken in emergencies overnight, or in the case of cruise ships that move overnight and dock during the day vice versa. From cruise ships to yachts- the captain is also allowed a drink and a meal as long as he is not classed as drunk and in charge of a vehicle. The yacht was not moving or docking, it was effectively parked for the night.

I suppose that was sort of my last point- how experienced and confident were those below him to spot an incoming weather emergency and wake him early enough.
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The captain has been wary and despite being thrown under the bus by the boat designers, he has held tight about doing it to his staff or anyone below him.
 
www.nbcnews.com

Final body from sunken superyacht recovered off Sicily

Divers had been scouring the wreckage of the Bayesian on Friday for Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
Rescuers scouring the wreckage of the superyacht that sank off the Sicilian coast have brought ashore the body of the last person missing from the luxury boat, believed to be the daughter of a British tech magnate.

The body of Mike Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was discovered early Friday — the culmination of a challenging five-day rescue operation.

NBC News later witnessed a body bag being taken ashore from a boat in Porticello, a port near the Italian island’s main city, Palermo...
 
Ruthbullock said:
One thing that has come out from the black box is the broken anchor 14 minutes before it sank- did they raise the keel at that point, due to a loose anchor chain swinging below?
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RSBM

I haven't seen this reported before. Do you have a link to it please?
 
Ruthbullock said:
He is the supervisor and most experienced and qualified of a team of people. He is not going to be on duty 24/7, I’m sure he was woken (we don’t know when), but there is 0% chance he had been sailing the group around all day and stayed up until 4am- and even if he did, exhaustion would have set in. I don’t know all the ins and outs of maritime law- but many captains do work the day shift (as that’s when their skills are most needed) and get woken in emergencies overnight, or in the case of cruise ships that move overnight and dock during the day vice versa. From cruise ships to yachts- the captain is also allowed a drink and a meal as long as he is not classed as drunk and in charge of a vehicle. The yacht was not moving or docking, it was effectively parked for the night.

I suppose that was sort of my last point- how experienced and confident were those below him to spot an incoming weather emergency and wake him early enough.
Click to expand...

I realize that captaining a yacht is not like piloting an aircraft, with a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol. But faced with a potentially difficult night ahead, it seems to me that at the very least the captain should have remained completely sober with instructions to wake him immediately in the event of any unexpected problems.

From early indications the anchor began to drag 16 minutes before the ship sank. So there should have been sufficient time for the captain to become aware of the situation even if he was in a dead sleep. What happened during that crucial timeframe will likely play a large role in determining if there was any culpability on the part of the captain and/or crew.
 
ch_13 said:
I realize that captaining a yacht is not like piloting an aircraft, with a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol. But faced with a potentially difficult night ahead, it seems to me that at the very least the captain should have remained completely sober with instructions to wake him immediately in the event of any unexpected problems.

From early indications the anchor began to drag 16 minutes before the ship sank. So there should have been sufficient time for the captain to become aware of the situation even if he was in a dead sleep. What happened during that crucial timeframe will likely play a large role in determining if there was any culpability on the part of the captain and/or crew.
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Completely agree, sorry if you thought I was implying he was drunk, I never intended to suggest that. I was merely trying to suggest that he won’t have been awake IMO and will have been woken by other crew members- and how urgently and close to the actual event happening that occurred will be quite critical. At this point whilst it may be human error, I still feel it could have been lack of experience and a chain of unfortunate events and whilst the captain is ultimately responsible- he is also a human being, who may have been made aware too late to change the unfolding events. I also have to respect the fact that he hasn’t thrown other staff under the bus either. We don’t know the ages of the rest of the crew, but I would imagine many are very young.
 
The boat sank at 4.05am and sent an electronic signal, a flare was sent up ( presumably from the life raft) at 4.35am according to locals who caught it on CCTV and the other nearby ship also witnessed it and then went to help- that’s a long time to wait to send up a distress flare ???
www.theguardian.com

‘I’ve never seen a vessel this size go down so quickly’: why did the Bayesian sink in 60 seconds?

As all seven bodies are recovered from the yacht, including that of British tycoon Mike Lynch, Italian authorities begin to look at how the tragedy unfolded, and who is responsible
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
A photo obtained by the Guardian from a local fisher showed the moment a red emergency flare was launched from the Bayesian’s life raft at 4.35am.

Francesco Lo Coco, who took the image, said: “I saw the sailboat rocking. The emergency rocket was launched while the sailboat was already sinking.”

Borner was the first to attempt providing assistance to the Bayesian, but the boat was already going under.

This doesn’t coincide with the black box reports at all timing wise- I’m so confused
 
Ruthbullock said:
The boat sank at 4.05am and sent an electronic signal, a flare was sent up ( presumably from the life raft) at 4.35am according to locals who caught it on CCTV and the other nearby ship also witnessed it and then went to help- that’s a long time to wait to send up a distress flare ???
www.theguardian.com

‘I’ve never seen a vessel this size go down so quickly’: why did the Bayesian sink in 60 seconds?

As all seven bodies are recovered from the yacht, including that of British tycoon Mike Lynch, Italian authorities begin to look at how the tragedy unfolded, and who is responsible
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...

I wonder how long it took people thrown into that raging sea to actually get to the life raft and get into it.

I think we have to remember that there were high winds, heavy rain, and likely large swells and crashing waves. Horrible scenario.
Some people can't even step into a dinghy from a still boat in a calm sea. (I fell doing that once :D )
 
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