Boats like Mike Lynch’s wrecked superyacht are “unsinkable”, says the chief executive of the company that builds and sells them.
Italian Sea Group CEO Giovanni Costantino told Sky News there were no defects in the design or construction of the Baysian superyacht, which capsized in a storm off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, on Monday.
Five bodies were recovered by divers on Wednesday, bringing the confirmed death toll to six.
Italian Sea Group also owns the company that built the Bayesian for British tech tycoon Lynch, and Costantino said the vessel was “the safest in the absolute sense”.
“As a Perini (boat) manufacturer, I know very well how boats have traditionally been designed and built,” he said.
“And the Perini is a sailing ship. Sailing ships are known to be the safest in history.”
He said its structure and keel created an “unsinkable hull.”
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Costantino said hearing the news of the sinking “felt like a mix of sadness on the one hand and disbelief on the other.”
“This case is technically and factually incredible,” he said.
Italian prosecutors investigating the incident are believed to be continuing to interview survivors.
Photo: Perini Navi/Italian Sea Group
On Tuesday, they questioned the captain for more than two hours in an attempt to reconstruct what happened and provide useful technical details.
Four British inspectors also arrived at Porticello and began a preliminary investigation into the incident.
It is understood they will investigate all aspects relevant to the accident, including the vessel’s design, stability and operation, and will also look into the effect of the weather conditions experienced.
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Of the 22 people on board, 15 have been rescued, including British citizen Charlotte Gornski and her one-year-old daughter Sophia.
Divers are due to resume work on Thursday morning to try to bring the body they found earlier to shore. One more person is still missing.
