BEFORE THE STORM
Chilling photo of Bayesian minutes before superyacht sank reveals key clue to solving mystery of disaster that killed 7
The photo was taken just 14 minutes before the boat sank
A CHILLING final photo of the doomed Bayesian superyacht has revealed a key clue about its fate.
The tragic snap was taken by a passenger onboard a vessel nearby moments before the huge boat sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19.
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The photograph appears to show a door in the hull was closed, contradicting initial claims the crew had left it open by mistake, allowing water to flood the yacht.
Two photographs - set to be published in an ITV documentary broadcast - were taken by a passenger onboard the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a yacht anchored just feet away from the Bayesian.
It was taken only 14 minutes before the superyacht was caught up in a storm before capsizing and sinking to the sea floor.
Seven people died in the tragedy including Brit billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah along with yacht chef Recaldo Thomas.
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Tragically, initial investigations revealed that four victims survived the sinking but died in an air pocket.
Three crew members are being investigated in Sicily, accused of leaving open the door at the rear port side causing water to enter the yacht and flood it.
The captain of the doomed Bayesian, James Cutfield, 51, is being investigated for manslaughter.
Kiwi Cutfield, along with two other members of his crew, are being investigated by Italian authorities for culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter.
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The photos were supplied by Sir Robert Baden Powell Karsten Borner who told the German newspaper Der Spiegel that he was irritated by repeated attempts by the ship's builder to pin the blame on the crew, report.
It comes after the boss of the Perini Navi company which built the Bayesian Giovanni Costantino, branded the boat "unsinkable" and slammed the crew for making key "mistakes" and failing to “close the doors and hatches.”
Mr Costantino told The Sun in August : "Modern sailing ships, especially high-tech ones like the Perini, are designed to be extremely safe and stable.
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“Even in very critical conditions, if procedures are followed, a sailing yacht like the Bayesian will return to an upright position.
"However, if the ship takes on water, this stability is compromised.
“Where the water entered will be determined by the investigators.
"What is certain is that the ship took on hundreds of thousands of litres of water."
He added: “The crew did not handle the adverse weather conditions properly and did not follow the correct procedures to ensure safety.
Inside The Bayesian's final 16 minutes
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
Data recovered from the Bayesian's Automatic Identification System (AIS) breaks down exactly how it sank in a painful minute-by-minute timeline.
At 3.50am on Monday August 19 the Bayesian began to shake "dangerously" during a fierce storm, Italian outlet revealed.
Just minutes later at 3.59am the boat's anchor gave way, with a source saying the data showed there was "no anchor left to hold".
After the ferocious weather ripped away the boat's mooring it was dragged some 358 metres through the water.
By 4am it had began to take on water and was plunged into a blackout, indicating that the waves had reached its generator or even engine room.
At 4.05am the Bayesian fully disappeared underneath the waves.
An emergency GPS signal was finally emitted at 4.06am to the coastguard station in Bari, a city nearby, alerting them that the vessel had sunk.
Early reports suggested the disaster struck around 5am local time off the coast of Porticello Harbour in Palermo, Sicily.
The new data pulled from the boat's AIS appears to suggest it happened an hour earlier at around 4am.
Some 15 of the 22 onboard were rescued, 11 of them scrambling onto an inflatable life raft that sprung up on the deck.
A smaller nearby boat - named Sir Robert Baden Powell - then helped take those people to shore.
Of the 22 onboard, 15 survived with 11 including Mike Lynch's wife rescued on an inflatable life raft.
Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was the last passenger to be discovered in the third cabin.
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Borner recalled the moment the Bayesian disappeared, in an interview for the ITV doc The Sinking of a Superyacht — How Safe Is Your Voyage?
"My first mate said, ‘she has gone, she has sunk’, and I was laughing at him, saying such a big thing doesn’t disappear in a minute. He was right."
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