Why did the superyacht Bayesian sink?
An expert believes it may have filled with water as doors were left open.
Hatches and doors left open overnight on the superyacht Bayesian may have caused it to sink in Italy, a sailing expert has said.
Sam Jefferson, editor of magazine Sailing Today, believes the vessel’s huge mast is also likely to have contributed to the deadly event.
It is believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout.
Mr Jefferson told the PA news agency: “I would have said that the boat got hit very hard by the wind, it was pinned over on its side.
“I imagine all the doors were open because it was hot, so there were enough hatches and doors open that it filled with water very quickly and sank like that.
“The reason it got pinned over so hard was because the mast is huge.
“It acted almost like a sail. (It) pushed the boat hard over on its side.
“(The boat) filled with water before it could right.
“This is all speculation, but that’s the only logical explanation.”
The yacht’s aluminium mast measures 72 metres, making it one of the largest in the world among sailing yachts.
Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht which was near Bayesian, told news agency Reuters he witnessed the ship go “flat on the water, and then down”.
Salvo Cocina, of Sicily’s civil protection agency, said: “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
