The Kiwi captain of a superyacht which sank off Sicily last week is reportedly facing an official investigation by Italian prosecutors, according to local media reports.
The sinking of the yacht, named Bayesian, killed its tech tycoon owner and six others.
James Cutfield, 51, is being investigated for multiple manslaughter and shipwreck, according to the Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera. The investigation in Italy doesn't imply guilt and doesn't mean charges will necessarily follow.
La Repubblica reported magistrates spoke to Cutfield for the second time in a week on Sunday (local time), questioning him for more than two hours, according to Reuters.
Under maritime law, a ship's captain has full responsibility for the vessel and crew, as well as the safety of all those who are aboard.
Italian officials believe a sudden and fierce storm that battered the coast of Sicily whipped up a waterspout in the exact spot where the 56-metre Bayesian was moored.
The Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily. (Source: 1News)
Among the dead were the ship's owner, 59-year-old tech tycoon Mike Lynch, sometimes described as the British Bill Gates. Lynch was acquitted in June of all charges in a US fraud trial linked to the sale of his software company to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
New Zealand lawyer Ayla Ronald, 36, was on board and survived. Her father told 1News she was a senior associate at British law firm Clifford Chance and part of Lynch's legal team, who were invited on the trip following his recent acquittal in the US fraud case.
The Bayesian was a luxury yacht built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Nav.
It was known for its single 75-metre aluminium mast — one of the world's tallest.
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