Builder of the Bayesian superyacht, which sank killing British

The builder of the Bayesian superyacht which sank in 2024, killing billionaire tech tycoon Mike Lynch is suing his widow for £400 million, claiming the company lost sales after the disaster.

The Italian Sea Group (TISG) blamed the crew and Bayesian’s holding company for the boat’s demise and have claimed that company has lost millions of euros in sales as a result of the tragedy.

The Bayesian went down off the coast of the Sicilian fishing village of Porticello in just 16 minutes after being hit by a fierce storm with 100 mph winds, on August 19, 2024.

Mike Lynch, 59, died alongside his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who was due to start at Oxford University a few weeks later, as well as five other passengers.

TISG’s majority owner, Giovanni Costantino, an Italian yachting millionaire, claimed that the crew’s incompetence and negligence led the boat to capsize and sink, insisting that the yacht was ‘unsinkable’.

He has alleged doors and portholes were not secured and weather warnings were ignored despite being widely publicised.

Mr Costantino also said the fact that the yacht took 16 minutes to sink meant there was ample time for the passengers and crew to be saved.

His company has now filed a lawsuit in the town of Termini Imerese on the northern coast of Sicily, claiming that the company has lost millions by being blamed for the disaster.

Seven people including tech billionaire Mike Lynch (right) and his daughter Hannah (left) died when Bayesian sank in a freak storm in 2024

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said the £30m yacht was compromised when 80.6mph winds struck its beam

The hull of the superyacht Bayesian, which sank near Palermo, Sicily, on August 19, 2024, is pulled out of the sea off the village of Porticello in June 2025

A source close to the family told the Daily Mail: ‘This claim is as cynical as it is predictable. The UK investigation has raised serious, unresolved questions about the yacht’s design, stability and operating characteristics, including vulnerabilities unknown to the owner and crew.

‘This action appears designed to distract from those issues, but it will not prevent proper scrutiny of how the vessel was designed, approved and built. It is desperate, opportunistic and in bad faith.’

The lawsuit has been filed against Revtom, the Isle of Man entity which owned the yacht and which is now owned by Angela Bacares, following her husband’s death.

It has also been filed against the boat’s skipper James Cutfield and two crew members Timothy Eaton and Matthew Griffiths.

Last September, TISG fired a lawyer who filed a similar £186 million lawsuit against Mike Lynch’s grieving widow.

The company claimed the lawsuit had been filed ‘without their knowledge and consent’.

The lawsuit claimed TISG had already lost business due to the sinking, including a well-known fashion house that retracted plans to launch its branding on the company’s yachts.

At the time, TISG vehemently denied that it had authorised the lawsuit and said it ordered Tommaso Bertuccelli to withdraw the claim.

The Bayesian went down off the coast of the Sicilian fishing village of Porticello in just 16 minutes after being hit by a fierce storm with 100 mph winds, on August 19, 2024

The chart from the interim report shows the location and drift of the yacht Bayesian in comparison to the Sir Robert Baden Powell when both were hit by a storm

Last year, British investigators found that the crew on the superyacht were ‘unaware’ of its ‘vulnerabilities’ to strong winds, which caused it to knock over and sink.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said the £30 million yacht was doomed after it was hit by 80.6mph winds causing it to tilt violently on its side and it was unable to straighten as the freak storm hit.

In its report the MAIB said the captain and crew would have had no idea of the yacht’s vulnerabilities as they were not laid out in the stability information booklet onboard.

On the night of August 18, the Bayesian had anchored next to the Sir Robert Baden Powell – a boat which would later rescue survivors – to shelter from the forecast thunderstorm.

At 3am, the deckhand on duty noted the wind as being at 8kts (9.2mph) but thought that the thunderclouds and lightning seemed to be getting closer.

Less than an hour later at 3.55am, the deckhand ‘videoed the advancing storm and posted it to their social media feed’ before closing hatches and cockpit windows.

Within minutes, the winds had picked up to 30kts (35mph) and the Bayesian was listing and dragging its anchor.

At around 4am, the deckhand woke up the skipper and the crew leapt into action by starting the generators and preparing to manoeuvre the Bayesian.

Pictured: Angela Bacares and Mike Lynch. Ms Bacares survived the sinking of the Bayesian, while her husband and daughter Hannah died

Hannah was due to attend Oxford University before her life was tragically cut short

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Meanwhile, a British mother and her partner woke up and took their one-year-old daughter to the boat’s saloon.

The chef Recaldo Thomas, who would die in the tragedy, was in the galley securing the cutlery, pots and pans and called ‘Good morning!’ to the nearby stewards.

But as disaster struck as the skipper prepared to manoeuvre, the wind suddenly increased to more than 70kts (80.5mph) ripping the awning away.

At 4.06am the Bayesian ‘violently heeled over’ in less than 15 seconds to a 90-degree angle.

This sent people as well as furniture flying across the deck, leaving five people, including the captain, injured while a deckhand was thrown into the sea.

Two guests, who were trapped in their cabin, were forced to use furniture drawers as an improvised ladder to escape into the saloon area.

The report said there was no indication of flooding inside the vessel until water came in over the starboard rails and, within seconds, entered the cabins down the stairwells.

The yacht’s crew were able to push four guests through the cascading water up to the skipper on the flying bridge.

The Bayesian, pictured left, capsized and sank off the coast of Sicily after anchoring near Porticello to shelter from the forecast thunderstorm

Report reveals why Bayesian superyacht sank killng billionaire, his daughter and five others

The Chief Officer who had been swept to the back of the saloon and into another air pocket, dived down to open the sliding doors at the end of the saloon and managed to swim clear of the vessel.

The captain called for the guests and crew who managed to escape to swim clear of the mast and boom as the vessel sank.

In the water, a deckhand improvised a tourniquet for one of the guests’ gashed arms, while a baby was kept afloat on a cushion.

In the darkness, some of the survivors were treading water while others held on to some cushions that had floated free from the yacht.

One of the guests frantically searched for other survivors in vain, using the torch from their phone while the captain and chief officer frantically freed the life raft from the sinking wreck.

At around 4.24am the liferaft was inflated and the survivors were able to get inside it, where the crew began administering first aid.

Desperate to raise the alarm with the nearby Sir Robert Baden Powell, the chief engineer fired several flares before they were spotted at 4.43am.

Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife Judy, 71, from Kent, were among the seven people who died when the 56 metre sailing boat sank

The skipper of Sir Robert Baden Powell dispatched its tender towards the 15 survivors and despite searching the area no one else was found.

The bodies were subsequently recovered after an agonising five-day search of the wreck on the seabed.

Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71, US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo, were among the dead.

The vessel claimed the life of an eighth person in May last year when a Dutch diver was killed while working on the £20million salvage operation.

TISG has been contacted for comment.

Minute by minute, how the Bayesian tragedy unfolded

August 18 – PM: The Bayesian was anchored at Cefalù on the northern coast of Sicily to shelter from the forecast weather and to allow for easy disembarkation of guests the following day.

August 19 – 00.30am: Having checked the weather the captain and the last guest had retired, leaving deckhand (DH1) and the evening steward (S1) on duty.

01.00am: The second deckhand (DH2) took over the watch. The wind at this time was noted as being no more than 8kts (9.2mph).

03.00am: DH2 noted the wind as being at 8kts (9.2mph) from the west but thought that the thunderclouds and lightning seemed to be getting closer.

03.55am: The deckhand ‘videoed the advancing storm and posted it to their social media feed’ before closing the hatches and cockpit windows.

03.57am: The winds had picked up to 30kts (35mph) and the Bayesian was listing and dragging its anchor.

04.00am: The deckhand ran to wake up the skipper and the crew leapt into action and began preparing to manoeuvre the Bayesian by starting the generators and steering pumps.

The rest of the crew, woken by either the captain or the yacht’s change of motion, got up and made their way out of the crew accommodation.

Chef Recaldo Thomas was spotted in the galley stowing cutlery, pots and pans and called out ‘Good morning!’ to nearby stewards.

The Bayesian was lying with the wind about 60 degrees off the port bow and moving at 1.8kts south-south-east of its original position.

Two guests – a British couple – had been woken by the movements and decided to head to the saloon with their baby.

4.06am: Disaster struck as the wind suddenly increased to more than 70kts (80.5mph) ripping the awning away. The Bayesian ‘violently heeled over’ in less than 15 seconds to a 90-degree angle.

The sudden movement sent people as well as furniture flying across the deck leaving five people including the captain injured while a deckhand was thrown into the sea.

Two guests trapped in their cabin were forced to used furniture drawers as an improvised ladder to escape into the saloon area.

The yacht’s crew were able to push four guests through the cascading water up to the skipper on the flying bridge.

The captain called for the guests and crew to swim clear of the mast and boom as the vessel sank.

04.22am: The crew had launched the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB). They noted that the wind had eased and that Bayesian was only a short distance from shore.

In the water, a deckhand(DH2) improvised a tourniquet for one of the guest’s gashed arm while a cushion was used as a flotation device for the baby. Some of the survivors were treading water and others held on to some cushions that had floated free from Bayesian.

One of the guests frantically searched for other survivors in vain using the torch from their phone – while the captain and chief officer freed the life raft from the sinking wreck.

04.24am: The captain and chief officer managed to free the life raft from the sinking wreck. It was inflated and the survivors were able to get inside it where the crew began administering first aid.

The skipper tried to raise the alarm by shouting at and then paddling towards the nearby vessel the Sir Robert Baden Powell.

04.34am: The Chief Engineer fired a red parachute flare from the life raft. Despite the winds being calm at the surface, the flare was carried sideways. He then used the life raft’s torch to signal towards a hotel on the cliffs above them, passing cars, and Sir Robert Baden Powell.

04.43am: The Chief engineer launcheda second parachute flare that was seen by the crew of Sir Robert Baden Powell. Responding to the flare, the skipper dispatched its tender towards the visible lights of the EPIRB and life raft.

04.53am: The tender carrying the 15 survivors returned to Sir Robert Baden Powell and a brief search was conducted to look for the missing seven people who were also on board.

04.56am: The tender from Sir Robert Baden Powell returned to the scene with Bayesian’s Chief Engineer and skipper on board to search for other survivors. The local coastguard was called to arrange to transfer the survivors to shore.