Captain and engineer of Mike Lynch’s family yacht both reportedly under investigation over sinking off Italy

Rome — The engineer of the luxury superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily, killing British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, along with five other people, has been placed under investigation by Italian prosecutors along with the captain of the vessel, according to the Reuters and ANSA news agencies. CBS News could not immediately reach the prosecutors or lawyers for the Bayesian yacht’s crew members to confirm the development, which comes about a week and a half after the vessel capsized on Aug. 19.

Engineer Tim Parker Eaton was reportedly placed under formal investigation for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck a few days after the 184-foot Bayesian yacht’s captain, James Cutler, whose lawyers have confirmed that he’s a subject of the probe.

After meeting with prosecutors for several days, Cutler, a 51-yar-old New Zealander, has declined to answer any further questions, his lawyer said Wednesday.

“The captain exercised his right to remain silent for two fundamental reasons,” attorney Giovanni Rizzuti told reporters. “First, he’s very worn out. Second, we were appointed only on Monday and for a thorough and correct defense case, we need to acquire a set of data that at the moment we don’t have.”

Lynch and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among the passengers and one crew members who died when the superyacht sank rapidly during a violent storm in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 19. The capsize of the high-tech vessel quickly raised questions, as another sailboat that had been anchored nearby off the coast of Palermo made it through the storm unscathed.  

Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, escaped to a life raft and were rescued by another boat that had been in the vicinity.

According to reports by Italian media, investigators are looking into whether the engineer, Eaton, might have neglected to activate security systems designed to automatically close all the hatches on the vessel, leaving the engine room to flood and possibly causing a power outage and the subsequent rapid flooding of the entire yacht.

Under Italian law, being placed under investigation does not necessarily mean formal charges will follow. 

During a press conference on Saturday, prosecutors said the investigation would require the wreck of the Bayesian to be salvaged from the seabed, where it currently sits at a depth of about 160 feet. 

Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said his team would work to determine whether the captain, other crew members, or the yacht’s manufacturers bear any responsibility for the sinking.