Yacht Sinking in Sicily Kills 7, Captain Under Investigation

Last week, the 184-foot superyacht Bayesian moored off the coast of Sicily sank in what Italian authorities call a “downburst.” The sinking took place over 16 minutes, leading to the deaths of six passengers and one crew member. The survivors—which include the captain, eight crew, and six passengers—were able to escape before the ship went under. Eleven survivors escaped via life raft, while local sailors retrieved four from the water. Despite difficult conditions, all seven bodies have been recovered from the wreckage—including an 18-year-old who would have been starting college in a few weeks.

The $40 million superyacht, built by the Italian Sea Group, had an award-winning design that the manufacturer called “unsinkable.” The sailing yacht featured a 246-foot aluminum mast—one of the tallest masts of its kind worldwide. This critical feature requires lowering the keel, or the fin at the bottom of the hull, to keep the boat from rolling in high winds.

Authorities and maritime experts are now asking: how did this ‘unsinkable’ ship sink so rapidly? 

What Is a “Downburst”?

Storm conditions sometimes produce a powerful downward draft of air called a “downburst.” When the downburst meets the ground, extreme winds explode in every direction. These winds can reach speeds of 110 mph, which is why downbursts are often confused for tornadoes. In the case of the Bayesian, Italian authorities initially confused the downburst with a waterspout.

Under these extreme conditions, investigators believed that the ship sank forward on its stern and rolled to the right. This created air pockets on the left-side cabins, where the recovered bodies were concentrated. Based on this understanding, the CEO of the Italian Sea Group has insisted that the ship must have taken on water through an open hatch, making it, in his view, a clear case of crew negligence.

CEO of Italian Sea Group Quick to Assign Blame

The CEO of the manufacturer that designed the Bayesian has been on a public awareness campaign to blame the captain and the crew for the tragedy. He’s speculated to multiple news outlets about procedures the captain might have neglected that led to the vessel’s sinking, such as the failure to lower the keel or ensuring all hatches were closed before everyone turned in for the night. Italian authorities have launched a probe into whether the captain committed manslaughter.

Of course, the Italian Sea Group has a financial interest in the public seeing this as an issue of crew negligence, not manufacturer negligence. But these are not mutually exclusive. The fact is the manufacturer has publicly called the Bayesian unsinkable. It was a bold claim that has tragically and definitively been proven wrong. The CEO can speculate about the crew not following proper procedure, but the only way to verify his speculations is for the owner to spend nearly $17 million recovering the wreckage and turning it over to investigators.

What Is the Likelihood of the Bayesian Having an Open Hatch?

The night before the Bayesian sank in Sicilian waters, there was a clear storm forecast. While the yacht likely would have been safer in the harbor, the captain and his crew were on a ship that was hailed as unsinkable; it had been through worse storms without an issue. So, it’s worth asking: is it more likely that a veteran sailor with decades of experience failed to ‌close all the hatches the night a storm would blow through? Or is it more likely that a flaw in the Bayesian’s design made it vulnerable to sudden, catastrophic failure?

Recovery divers say they saw the ship’s keel was raised when they saw the wreckage. The keel is a critical counterweight against the enormous height of the mast, so if it was never lowered, it likely contributed to the disaster. But again—is it likely the entire crew forgot a critical part of basic vessel operation? Or is it more likely that the keel had a critical flaw that contributed to the Bayesian’s sinking?

Who Is at Fault: The Captain or the Italian Sea Group?

In our experience as maritime attorneys, the answer is rarely either A or B; it’s often a combination of factors that interact and create tragic outcomes. When we investigated the sinking of the El Faro in 2015, we found a similar pattern: a combination of human decision-making (in that case, by the ship’s owners) and technical failures led to a total loss of life. Our investigation of the Deepwater Explosion uncovered a similarly lethal combination of technical and mortal failures.

We suspect the same is true of this situation: a combination of decisions made on the vessel and decisions made at the Italian Sea Group offices created the conditions for the Bayesian’s sinking and the loss of seven lives. All that matters now is for the investigators to determine exactly what happened and who needs to be held accountable for it.

Our hearts go out to the families who lost their loved ones on the Bayesian. We will be following this case closely as it unfolds.