Skipper formally investigated over superyacht tragedy

James Cutfield will be interrogated on Tuesday for possible manslaughter over the sinking of the Bayesian yacht, which left seven dead including UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch.

Divers carry the body of the last missing person at Porticello harbour near Palermo. Picture: AFP.

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The captain of the luxury superyacht which sank off Sicily last week has been formally warned he is being investigated for potential manslaughter over the tragedy.

James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealand national, was one of 15 people who survived the sinking of the Bayesian, which left seven people dead, including UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter.

Mr Cutfield will be interrogated on Tuesday local time about his role in the tragedy, his lawyers have told Italian media.

The captain had already been heard by magistrates for two hours on Sunday, the second time in a week, but has not been informed about their findings so far. “He is very distressed by this whole affair,” his lawyer Giovanni Rizzuti told the Adnkronos news agency.

Skipper James Cutfield is under investigation for manslaughter.

Prosecutors on the Italian island on Saturday announced they were investigating potential crimes of negligent shipwreck and manslaughter over the sinking of the yacht in a storm before dawn on August 19.

They did not name any suspects and stressed the investigation was at an early stage.

Lynch, a 59-year-old British tech entrepreneur and investor, had invited friends and family onto the boat to celebrate his recent acquittal in a massive US fraud case.

But the 56-metre (185-foot) yacht was struck by something akin to a mini-tornado as it was anchored off Porticello, near Palermo.

The body of the yacht’s cook was found shortly afterwards, and six people – including the businessman and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah – were reported missing.

Following a major search operation, divers pulled up the bodies of four of Lynch’s friends on Wednesday, that of Lynch himself on Thursday, and finally that of Hannah on Friday.

The yacht currently lies on its side on the seabed, some 50 metres down. All six bodies were found in the cabins closest to the surface, five in one and Hannah’s body in another, and officials said they likely moved there while trying to find pockets of air.

AFP