Superyachts like the one Mike Lynch was onboard when it capsized are supposed to be ‘unsinkable’, according to the chief executive of the firm which built it.
Five bodies have been recovered from the wreck of the Bayesian yacht after a storm caused it to capsize on Monday morning, bringing the number of confirmed casualties to six.
Speaking to Sky News, CEO of the Italian Sea Group Giovanni Constantino said he had been in a state of ‘disbelief’ following news of the shipwreck, and insisted there were no flaws with the design and construction of the vessel.
‘Being the manufacturer of Perini [boats], I know very well how the boats have always been designed and built,’ he told the broadcaster.
‘And as Perini is a sailing ship… sailing ships are renowned to be the safest ever.’
Mr Constantino said the design of the ships was intended to make them ‘unsinkable bodies’, and that news of the sinking had ‘put me in a state of sadness on one side and of disbelief on the other’.
‘This incident sounds like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact,’ he said.
Italian prosecutors are currently holding talks with survivors in order to determine the series of events which led to the sinking.
On Tuesday the captain of the vessel was questioned for more than two hours by investigators in order to help reconstruct what happened and provide useful technical details.
Four British inspectors are also in Porticello and have begun a preliminary assessment of events.
Twenty-two people were on board the vessel, 15 of whom were rescued – including Briton Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter Sofia.
Divers will resume efforts on Thursday morning to bring ashore a body they found earlier. One more person remains missing.
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