James Cutfield, 51, captain of the Bayesian The £14million superyacht Bayesian – which sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19 EPA Yacht chef Recaldo Thomas, who died in the wreck tragedy Facebook Italian prosecutors hold a press conference in Italy this week
The unnamed sources close to Cutfield said he insists he did everything possible to save those onboard, both passengers and crew, and didn’t abandon any of them.
But as the boat took on more and more water, he couldn’t move properly on the yacht.
The £14million vessel was caught up in a storm off the coast of northern Sicily on August 19, capsizing and sinking to the sea floor in mere minutes.
Of the 22 onboard, 15 survived and seven died including Brit billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah along with yacht chef Recaldo Thomas.
Kiwi Cutfield, along with two other members of his crew, are being investigated by Italian authorities for culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter.
The investigation does not imply guilt or mean formal charges will be brought against any of the men.
Cutfield, who lost his passport in the tragedy, was given a copy by officials so he could leave Italy with his wife and head home to Mallorca this week.
Under Italian maritime laws, the full responsibility for the welfare of a ship, its crew, and passengers lies with the captain of a vessel.
Solicitor Aldo Mordiglia told The Times he had “exercised his right to remain silent”.
He added: “There were two reasons. He is understandably very shaken up, and secondly, us lawyers were only appointed yesterday and we need to acquire information we do not have in order to defend him.”
Crew member Griffith is understood to have been on watch the night of the tragedy, a judicial source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Parker-Eaton is suspected of having failed to protect the engine room and operating systems when it was hit by a storm.
Reports suggest crew bedrooms have been searched, with at least two phones seized.
The wreck survivors, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, 57, left Sicily in a private jet on Sunday, with most of the crew also set to leave after being grilled by investigators.
At a press conference at the Termini Imerese Courthouse on Saturday, Chief Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said there may have been “behaviours that were not perfectly in order with regard to the responsibility everybody had.”
His team will probe if hatches were left open, allowing water to flood in.
They will also look into whether the crew raised the alarm before escaping.
He vowed to “discover how much they knew and to what extent all the people (passengers) were warned.”
Mr Cartosio added: “There could be in fact the question of homicide. But this is the beginning of the inquiry, we cannot exclude anything at all…We will establish each element’s (crew) responsibility.
“For me, it is probable that offences were committed — that it could be a case of manslaughter.”
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 Corriere 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.
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