Matthew Griffiths, the sailor on watch duty on the night the Bayesian sank on 19th August, said he “woke the captain up when the wind was blowing at 20 knots.”
He added, “He ordered to wake everyone else up,” as he told prosecutors, ANSA reported on Saturday.
Griffiths stated, “I then stored away the pillows and plants, closed the windows of the sitting room on the bow and some hatches.”
The British sailor is one of three crew members under investigation for the shipwreck, along with captain James Cutfield and ship engineer Tim Parker Eaton. He is represented by attorneys Mario Scopesi and Corrado Breganti.
According to Griffiths, the ship “tilted, and we fell into the water. We were then able to climb back on and tried to rescue those we could.” He added that the “boat was tilted and we were walking on the walls.” Griffiths also said, “We rescued those we could; also, Cutfield rescued the little girl and her mother,” referring to two passengers who survived.
Defence and Technical Consultancies
The defence attorneys for ship engineer Tim Parker Eaton and sailor Matthew Griffiths may request technical consultancies to clarify the causes of the shipwreck off Porticello, near Palermo. Investigative sources indicate that one consultancy would focus on engineering and the other on weather conditions.
The engineering investigation will seek to determine if the ship, described as unsinkable unless it took on tons of water, had any unknown malfunctions. The weather consultancy aims to establish if the event that led to the shipwreck was sudden and violent or predictable. The boat did not have a black box, but technical equipment onboard might have left data traces on connected servers, according to sources.
Victims of the Bayesian
The yacht’s owner, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and five others – all passengers except the boat’s cook Recaldo Thomas – died when the yacht went down.
Authorities described the extreme weather event that caused the sinking as a downburst. The three crew members are under investigation for suspected multiple negligent manslaughter and causing a shipwreck.
Witness Testimony
Authorities have questioned Rosalinda Orlando, who owns a shipyard in Porticello and witnessed the Bayesian sinking. Orlando told Milan’s Corriere della Sera that she went to the shipyard that night and saw the 56-metre yacht “sway” in freak weather conditions. She claimed it was “pulled by a dragging anchor” and heard the sail “flap.”
Investigators deemed her testimony relevant, particularly concerning whether the sail had not been properly lowered, causing further instability during the storm. Orlando also told coast guards that the location chosen by the crew to anchor and spend the night was not a good one.
