“I saved as many people as I could, and I didn’t mess it up,” says the captain of the Albayzian, the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily last week, killing seven people.
Meanwhile, details are emerging of what was said during the captain’s first formal questioning by Italian prosecutors after he was investigated for manslaughter and causing the ship’s sinking.
Captain of the wrecked boat: “I saved as many people as I could”
James Cutfield, the captain of British tech mogul Mike Lynch’s luxury yacht who died with his daughter in the August 19 wreck, has been telling his people that he did not abandon anyone and did everything he could to save everyone, the crew and passengers, Corriere della Sera reported.
And at some point the water swept over everything and it became forbidden to enter the sinking sailboat to try to get someone out of it.
Shipwreck in Sicily: The 6 fell asleep and couldn’t escape – They fought with shocking descriptions
Wreckage in Sicily: The most likely cause of the sinking of the luxury yacht – it is not known when it will be raised from the bottom
The ‘Silent Fish’ Was Kept by the Captain for Italian Authorities – Why He Didn’t Say Anything
The 51-year-old captain was questioned by Italian prosecutors on Tuesday, and while one of his lawyers, Aldo Mordiglia, said his client wanted to cooperate with Italian authorities in the investigation, he had now, he revealed, “finally exercised his right to remain silent.”
“There were two reasons,” Mordella said, according to Ansa news agency. “He is very upset, and secondly, we lawyers were only appointed yesterday, and in order to present a complete, complete and adequate line of defence, we need to have a set of facts that we do not currently have.” In addition, the lawyer says, “At the moment, we do not know if there are other suspects.”
Authorities expand investigation – who are the other crew members targeted?
Meanwhile, prosecutors are investigating the involvement of more crew members in the wreck. According to the Italian news agency, they are seeking to expand their inquiries to include Thijs Koommans, the 33-year-old Dutch first officer, and two British crew members, Tim Parker-Eaton, the ship’s engineer, and Matthew Griffiths, who was on duty on deck.
Prosecutors have obtained useful evidence to help them understand what happened on the night of August 19, when the 56-metre sailing vessel in question sank within a quarter of an hour as a violent storm raged, caused by the Dutch ship Sir Robert Baden-Powell, which was just metres away from the British ship, and managed to steer it instead, saving the 15 people who had fallen into the sea.
What does former captain Baez say?
On the other hand, Stephen Edwards, the captain of the Bayesian from 2015 to 2020, does not believe the hypothesis that the hatch was left open, a mistake that can be attributed to the crew. According to him, the hatch on the port side was “100% closed.”
Instead, he believes Bayesian “exceeded its operational limits” when he found himself at the center of a meteorological phenomenon of extreme violence, referred to as a downburst.
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