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

[Ruthbullock]

I’m not sure on peoples survival mentality- but since Concordia we always pack and take our own fully charged torches just in case when cruising- probably won’t help, but I was fortunate to avoid the zeebrugge disaster as we missed our sailing by a small delay, so I take nothing for granted on boats anymore.

 

[mickey2942]

This is terrible to say, we used to go out on our boat on Lake Michigan, and later a house boat in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. No one wore a life preserver. We never had emergency drills. It was all just "fun and sunshine".

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

The captain is on shift during the day when moving, docking- overnight he will be on call, but asleep

There were other crew members, not just the captain. And inclement weather was forecast. It seems that possible safety issues were not taken very seriously, from the hull to drilling the passengers or having them get life jackets on, etc. MOOO.

 

[Rikissa]

I’m not sure on peoples survival mentality- but since Concordia we always pack and take our own fully charged torches just in case when cruising- probably won’t help, but I was fortunate to avoid the zeebrugge disaster as we missed our sailing by a small delay, so I take nothing for granted on boats anymore.

There were also Jan Hewelius in 1993, Estonia in 1994, and Scandinavian Star in 1990.
I lived on the island of Gotland during the 1990s, and there were many ferry trips done during that decennium.

MS Jan Heweliusz - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Sinking of the MS Estonia - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

MS Scandinavian Star - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[RedHaus]

Like the Titanic resulted in better safety measures and standards, I think this tragedy will also result in better safety measures and standards for "smaller"/private crafts.

RSBM
And like an OP mentioned very early on in this thread, this tragic case is sadly reminiscent of the September 2019 Conception disaster in the San Diego area. An overnight dive boat anchored for the night caught fire and killed 34.

"Captain Jerry Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer last year. The charge is a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seaman's manslaughter. It was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters." The captain was sentenced May 2024 to 4 years in jail.

Instead of a fire catostrophe, we now have a water catastrophe. Once the investigation of the Bayesian is complete I suspect we may find similar culpability of the captain and crew, such as night watch failures and guests trapped while crew escaped. So will things change from these disasters?

IMO
ET: correct grammar

 

[SouthAussie]

I don't understand why someone so young would be on overnight watch when severe weather was forecast, why were they not on higher alert, crew and passengers? Why did they respond so differently than nearby boats did to the predicted weather? MOOO.

I don't know about on a luxury superyacht, but on many very large racing yachts they do four-hour shifts when they are on watch. Some do three-hour shifts.

imo

ETA: Found a superyacht link .... "When you’re working on a superyacht, it’s inevitable that at some point you’ll need to take part in watch duties, whether it be keeping watch while underway or an anchor watch at night or day. Each yacht will have its own watch schedule but generally watches last 3-4 hours either in pairs or alone." Link

 

[ch_13]

This is terrible to say, we used to go out on our boat on Lake Michigan, and later a house boat in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. No one wore a life preserver. We never had emergency drills. It was all just "fun and sunshine".

I imagine this is probably the rule and not the exception on private boats. However, I do think that the equation changes somewhat when you bring guests on board. Especially when the passengers are not experienced sailors, or perhaps not even proficient swimmers.

So will things change from these disasters?

I don't know if there will be any new regulations. However, I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of billionaires playing close attention and (perhaps for the first time) asking some hard questions of their yacht captains.

 

[branmuffin]

As for the storm that was approaching, was there anything special about it, or was it just another thunderstorm that happened to produce a water spout? It doesn't appear that any other boats at anchor there scattered and fled.

I was in Florida several years ago when a storm came in quick. You could see water spouts out on the Gulf but they didn't look particularly dangerous. We were staying in a waterfront hotel on the second floor. The guests were instructed to move inside but most of them wanted to stay in the lobby which was mainly windows and watch the storm come closer and closer. My husband and I gauged how dangerous the situation was and convinced some people to stay in the stairwell between the first and second floors since it was built of cement block. The storm came in quick, hurling all the outdoor furniture in the pool and outside the hotel area. The windows in the lobby survived the onslaught but people told us they saw them bend! When we went outside after it was all over, many cars in the parking lot in our hotel and the adjacent one had windows that had imploded. No glass on the outside, all in the cars' interiors. The windows had been fully up. Very strange. This was in February.

 

[branmuffin]

I think that was a design flaw with how much glass was around, but if you're sinking with the situation getting worse, you have to get people ready. I do think the passengers expected to be safe or were physically unable to get on deck. I do wonder if perhaps the captain had a concussion as it doesn't seem like the crew were acting like they were sinking but rather just doing stuff to respond to the weather...clearing the deck of debris, which it doesn't sound like the crew was working on clearing the passenger area though. The members of the crew that were cleaning should have instead been assigned to getting the passengers on deck unless and until the ship stopped sinking.

If you look at the images of the interior you can see that some of the furniture like beds have a raised area surrounding it. I presume this is to stop the beds from moving in rough weather. I was on a fairly large yacht years ago where the tables had a rim around them to stop cutlery and china from sliding off the table. I guess that's the same philosophy. I would think much of the furniture is fixed but other stuff would be moveable when needed. In a bad storm, though, or the circumstances that caused this tragedy, those precautions wouldn't help.

 

[SouthAussie]

"The sinking of Bayesian has sparked a broader conversation within the maritime industry about yacht safety, particularly in challenging weather conditions. Experts have begun to examine whether current safety protocols and design standards are adequate for large yachts operating in such environments.

One area of focus is the vessel's stability under duress. While Bayesian was built to meet the necessary safety regulations, the extreme conditions on the night of the incident may have exceeded the vessel's design capabilities."

Superyacht Times: Investigation continues into the 56m Bayesian yacht sinking in Palermo, Italy

 

[Yellowbelly]

More from CBS about today's investigation developments re: Engineer Tim Parker Eaton.

"According to reports by Italian media, investigators are looking into whether the engineer, Eaton, might have neglected to activate security systems designed to automatically close all the hatches on the vessel, leaving the engine room to flood and possibly causing a power outage and the subsequent rapid flooding of the entire yacht."

And we know that she sank by the stern, so water entering the yacht via the engine room vents would make sense.

I think yesterday's articles were the first to confirm that Matthew Griffith was the Officer of the Watch (OOW) on the night. There were 15 minutes between the yacht starting to drag its anchor and the sinking. As soon as the anchor started to drag, Griffith should have woken the captain. I wonder if he did.

 

[SouthAussie]

And we know that she sank by the stern, so water entering the yacht via the engine room vents would make sense.

I think yesterday's articles were the first to confirm that Matthew Griffith was the Officer of the Watch (OOW) on the night. There were 15 minutes between the yacht starting to drag its anchor and the sinking. As soon as the anchor started to drag, Griffith should have woken the captain. I wonder if he did.

I would be surprised if the captain and crew didn't wake up when the boat began to "shake dangerously".


AIS data

3:50am yacht began to shake dangerously
3:59am no anchor left to hold – yacht dragged 358 metres
4:00am taking on water, plunged into blackness
4:05am sank beneath water
4:06am coast guard received emergency GPS signal

'Black box' lays bare last 16 minutes aboard doomed sinking superyacht

 

[bmacmillan1]

Bayesian's ex-captain shares theory on what he thinks went wrong

Stephen Edwards, who previously captained the ship, said he was 'one hundred per cent' warned that severe weather conditions could have left crew with no time to react

www.dailymail.co.uk

I would be surprised if the captain and crew didn't wake up when the boat began to "shake dangerously".


AIS data

3:50am yacht began to shake dangerously
3:59am no anchor left to hold – yacht dragged 358 metres
4:00am taking on water, plunged into blackness
4:05am sank beneath water
4:06am coast guard received emergency GPS signal

'Black box' lays bare last 16 minutes aboard doomed sinking superyacht

Horrifying, the short timeline. When did the weather actually start getting bad, was it the previous day leading to the early morning sinking? Tried to find a mention somewhere

 

[SouthAussie]

Horrifying, the short timeline. When did the weather actually start getting bad, was it the previous day leading to the early morning sinking? Tried to find a mention somewhere

No, it has been described as "sudden". It was some time around/after midnight when the first flashes of lightning were noticed, probably further off in the distance as it hadn't started raining yet then.


The 180-foot Bayesian sank in a matter of minutes after being caught in a sudden storm with strong winds and intense lightning at around 4 am on Monday. Link

Until midnight last Sunday, Matteo Cannia was sitting out on a bench overlooking the sea in Porticello. It was too hot to sleep.
The 78-year-old, a fisherman since the age of 10, saw the first flashes of lightning. "I heard the thunder and the wind and decided to go home," he told me.
"As the storm grew, everyone woke. Water was coming into my friend’s house." Link

The Bayesian was struck by a sudden and powerful storm in the early hours of Monday morning, witnesses say. Link

 

[ItalyReader]

I would be surprised if the captain and crew didn't wake up when the boat began to "shake dangerously".


AIS data

3:50am yacht began to shake dangerously
3:59am no anchor left to hold – yacht dragged 358 metres
4:00am taking on water, plunged into blackness
4:05am sank beneath water
4:06am coast guard received emergency GPS signal

'Black box' lays bare last 16 minutes aboard doomed sinking superyacht

Two things I’ve been trying to understand -

1 - “No anchor left to hold” - does that mean the anchor slipped but was still attached to the ship? Or was no longer attached to the ship?
I understand that in either case the ship moved 358 meters

2 - the emergency GPS signal- did that come from the Bayesian? And automatically generated or manually?

Thank you

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Two things I’ve been trying to understand -

1 - “No anchor left to hold” - does that mean the anchor slipped but was still attached to the ship? Or was no longer attached to the ship?
I understand that in either case the ship moved 358 meters

2 - the emergency GPS signal- did that come from the Bayesian? And automatically generated or manually?

Thank you

358 meters is a significant distance almost 4 football fields. MOOO.

"Italian authorities said the Bayesian was probably at anchor when the storm struck, meaning it couldn't maneuver and ride the waves, according to Mitchell Stoller, a captain and maritime expert witness. Other ships in the area that turned on their engines rode out the storm, he said.

"When you're at anchor and you see weather, you start your engine and you put the wind on the bow. You don't let it get on the side," he said.

Schanck said another key question concerns the position of the keel, a heavy weight underneath the boat that acts as a counterbalance to keep it upright, when the ship sank. When lifted, "that's going to affect the stability of the vessel, because, obviously, you've now raised the center of gravity of that vessel," he said.

The Bayesian was floating over 160 feet of water at the time, deep enough that the keel would likely be deployed. But the fact that "the vessel heeled over so heavily makes me question that," Schanck said."

Experts puzzle over why Bayesian yacht sank. Was it a 'black swan event'?

The Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday, leaving one person dead and launching a rescue operation for six missing passengers.

news.yahoo.com

 

[RedHaus]

Horrifying, the short timeline. When did the weather actually start getting bad, was it the previous day leading to the early morning sinking? Tried to find a mention somewhere

RBBM
I have not (yet) sleuthed historical weather records for that area preceding the 'event', but I do recall the builder of the Bayesian (Constantino) claiming there had been a powerful storm being tracked from one body of water, over land, to the sea where the Bayesian was anchored.

I can't find the article with his vivid description of that weather pattern (I think it's buried in the earlier pages of this thread). But I did just find this article.

"[Constantino] faulted the crew for failing to lower the keel in advance of Monday's heavy weather, and said that they should have closed hatches and mustered the passengers as a precaution. "The storm was fully legible in all the weather charts. It couldn't have been ignored," he said."

So right now, I'm under the impression there could have been ample warning about an approaching severe weather system, but the actual downspout event that likely took out the Bayesian was sudden and unexpected.

IOW, investigators will likely separate the two phenomenon: 1. An approaching severe storm with the potential for bad things to happen; and 2. The catastrophic microburst (downspout).

All IMO.
ET: fix formatting

 

[SouthAussie]

Two things I’ve been trying to understand -

1 - “No anchor left to hold” - does that mean the anchor slipped but was still attached to the ship? Or was no longer attached to the ship?
I understand that in either case the ship moved 358 meters

2 - the emergency GPS signal- did that come from the Bayesian? And automatically generated or manually?

Thank you

#1 I don't know. I think it could have lost its anchor because it travelled a long way.
#2 Maybe category 14 in the listing below? Automatically generated.


The AIS has different navigational categories that it shows ... maybe they can tell what was positionally happening due to the categories it was in. There are a lot of links about AIS out there, the system can give a lot of different information.

1 = at anchor
2 = not under command
3 = restricted manoeuvrability
4 = constrained by her draught
5 = moored
6 = aground
7 = engaged in fishing
8 = underway sailing
9 = reserved for future amendment of navigational status for ships carrying dangerous goods (DG), harmful substances(HS), or IMO hazard or pollutant category C, high-speed craft (HSC)
10 = reserved for future amendment of navigational status for ships carrying dangerous goods (DG), harmful substances (HS) or marine pollutants (MP), or IMO hazard or pollutant category A, wing in the ground (WIG)
11 = power-driven vessel towing astern
12 = power-driven vessel pushing ahead or towing alongside
13 = reserved for future use
14 =AIS-SART Active (Search and Rescue Transmitter), AIS-MOB (Man Overboard), AIS-EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon)
15 = undefined = default (also used by AIS-SART, MOB-AIS, and EPIRB-AIS under test)

AIS Navigational Status

Values of AIS Navigational Status : 1:At anchor ; 2:Not under command ; 3: Restricted manoeuverability ; 4:Constrained by her draught.

datalastic.com

 

[RedHaus]

AIS data
3:50am yacht began to shake dangerously
3:59am no anchor left to hold – yacht dragged 358 metres
4:00am taking on water, plunged into blackness
4:05am sank beneath water
4:06am coast guard received emergency GPS signal

'Black box' lays bare last 16 minutes aboard doomed sinking superyacht

RSBM
Wow. Stunning. Those precious 10 minutes between 3:50am and 4:00am. Why couldn't everyone have been saved? I guess that is the $30M question, right?

 

[SouthAussie]

RSBM
Wow. Stunning. Those precious 10 minutes between 3:50am and 4:00am. Why couldn't everyone have been saved? I guess that is the $30M question, right?

It seems that something was stopping those trapped below deck from escaping. Those that could escape did so. Everyone must have felt the yacht "dangerously shaking". I would think that things were shattering and breaking at that time.
We know one passenger made it onto the deck, walking through broken glass. Why didn't the others?