The Italian Sea Group has filed a lawsuit against Angela Bacares Lynch in a Sicilian court. The yacht builder is demanding 456 million euros in damages and claims that the crew and operating company of the superyacht "Bayesian" are responsible for its sinking. In addition to the owner company Revtom, the lawsuit is also directed against Captain James Cutfield and crew members Timothy Eaton and Matthew Griffiths.
Mike Lynch died in August 2024 along with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and five other people when the ship, which cost around 35 million euros, was capsized and sank during a storm off the Sicilian coast. Angela Bacares Lynch, who survived the sinking, is the legal owner of Revtom, the operating company registered on the Isle of Man. The Italian Sea Group, whose majority shareholder is the Italian millionaire Giovanni Costantino, has filed the lawsuit with the court in Termini Imerese together with its holding company GC Holding Company.
Allegation of serious omissions
In its statement of claim, the Italian Sea Group claims that the "Bayesian" was unsinkable. However, the crew made a series of serious mistakes that led to the capsizing. According to the lawsuit, the crew failed to close hatches, heed weather warnings and lower the keel of the ship. These omissions meant that the ship was unable to right itself in strong winds. The statement of claim speaks of incredible and unspeakable errors and omissions by the crew. The company argues that Revtom, as the owner company, is also liable for the actions of the crew. The Italian Sea Group also owns Perini Navi, the shipyard that built the 56-metre yacht in 2008.
Contradictory test results
The presentation of the Italian Sea Group stands in contrast to a Report of the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch. The interim report published by the British government describes that the investigators analysed the stability of the yacht using a model based on the stability information book approved by the British authorities in 2008 and discovered a crucial lack of information. The SIB contains stability curves and operating limits, especially for operation under sail with a lowered keel, and shows which heel angles are considered safe in these conditions. Stability angles between 84.3 degrees and 92.3 degrees are specified for three wind speeds. However, the SIB does not explicitly name a weak point or limit values for the situation under engine without sails and with the keel up, as was presumably the case on the night of the accident.
Critical stability values
According to the report, the crew could therefore only guess at the behaviour of the ship in this configuration. At the same time, the study points out how strongly the 72-metre mast acted as a wind attack surface. Around 50 per cent of the wind heeling moment in crosswinds was due to the mast. Assuming a raised keel, the calculated stability angle was significantly lower than specified in the SIB, namely 70.6 degrees. In addition, a gusty crosswind speed of over 63.4 knots was already sufficient to cause the vessel to capsize. This was below the extreme values that occurred in the storm.
Alleged business collapse
The Italian Sea Group claims to have suffered a ruinous loss of revenue and profits due to the negative reporting. The company's share price has collapsed, as has the value of the Perini Navi brand. The company had taken over Perini Navi in 2021 out of insolvency and planned yacht sales worth almost one billion euros by 2028. Since the accident, however, sales of Perini yachts have fallen to zero. TISG has not been able to sell a single Perini yacht, and the ship owners involved in ongoing negotiations have disappeared. Not a single expression of interest has been received from the group of international brokers with whom TISG co-operates.
