Sinking of Yacht off Sicilian Coast

[Cesarina]

This is of course an absolutely tragic event.
I'm feeling a bit mean by saying this.........but why is it the headline topic on BBC news?
I genuinely feel sorry for those involved, but don't understand why it's the dominant news story?

Committed suicide before the shit hit the fan concerning alleged misappropriation of Mirror Group pension funds.

Reports that even use the term porthole should be ignored.

What term should be used instead of ‘porthole’? Isn’t that what they’re usually called?

Allegedly

Sorry, yes, Italian Sea Group, headed by Giovanni C, acquired Perini (who made this yacht) in 2022.

Liability or not, I am sure he would like anything but the design to be at fault, for reputational reasons!

The Captain's comment that It came out of nowhere just doesn't ring totally true, yes for the water spout but no for the storm/bad weather that was predicted and should have been prepared for. Like all things prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Like you I am wondering why the crew were all on deck (bar one) at that time.

Something caused that yacht to keel right over onto its side, it did not right itself something pulled it beyond the point it could right itself and water ingress would do that as it would tilt the balance. The yacht went down on is on its side and is resting on the sea bed on its side and that is unusual.

Mistakes were made and I err to the side of human error on the part of those in control of the yacht.

There should have been two crew on deck sitting anchor watch no matter the weather. When things get a bit more serious they would have called for all hands - hence all crew except galley staff would be on deck to make safe.

Re docking. There really should be no need, docking these things is not simple and are there aren't many places that can take them. My understanding is that the forecast wasn't as severe as what actually occurred.

The design is Ron Holland.

These boats don't have one designer as such. There will have been many specialist companies involved not least the classification body.

Port lights. The boats this size I'm familiar with don't have opening port lights, or at least anything that can be opened by guests. Windows tend to be fixed and ventilation via aircon.

I’m just going to chuck this into the mix, not universally loved but it’s a useful model:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model

It’s rare one single factor all by itself causes an accident - ie. It’s rarely a single crew error, single design error or weakness, or a single material being at fault, or one poor weather forecast.

The dangers starts if all the weaknesses and errors line up at the same time.

The Titanic sank in 1912, what has that got to do with modern boat building nearly a century later?

The guy said the boats unsinkable.

I pointed out they said the same about the Titanic.

I didn't realise the date it was said made any difference.

They sank

@Daftasabroom thank you for answering my question.

Not conclusively established, though. He was grossly overweight, elderly and under great stress. He could quite easily have had a heart attack and fallen into the sea. He seemed to be a man of colossal arrogance who thought he could get away with anything. Not the obvious suicidal type.

@PlacidPenelope The Captain's comment that It came out of nowhere is entirely feasible. It was dark, already very windy. It was raining. Visibility is effectively zero so it's nigh on impossible to see what's about to hit. Weather forecasts typically only give a 5km resolution but extreme events can occur in seconds and may only last minutes.

It seems all hands were on deck when something unexpected occured. We don't know how much warning they had or how far they had got through their emergency procedures.

It would be more unusual if the yacht didn't come to rest on one side.

Yep. I'm surprised nobody has picked up on the name of the boat.

And - whilst all the quarters were below deck - the crew quarters were towards the front and may have been nearer a staircase - so crew may have got out quicker if any were sleeping.

The spacious, minimalist, open plan guest areas are also going to be far harder to climb out of once the boat is on its side than the more cramped crew quarters. This may not have been a factor if all the crew were already on deck but still, if you look at the photos online of the main cabins and ask yourself how the heck you would climb those smooth surfaces if the door was suddenly on the roof, it’s a very frightening thought. The tiny cabins in traditional smaller yachts will be much easier to escape from in a capsize.

The crew on duty would always be on deck in stormy weather. As I said earlier I suspect the garage doors were left open. When the waterspout hit and laid the boat down, with the keel up it would be very slow to right itself, and if the garage doors were left open there would be huge ingress of water.

those who know....

I initially read the liferaft would activate itself once the boat is of a certain depth in the water; but now reading the crew activated it and got themselves and those passengers on/near the deck on it. if indeed the crew activated the liferaft, I just can't help but think the crew left the others below to die whilst saving themselves?

also which body part of this long yacht the liferaft is located? as they had to get to it (showing the crew had some time) and get everyone scattered on the deck- (mother of baby said it was dark, water everywhere and everyone screaming so not everyone on deck was in same area but still managed to get them).

thinking, maybe trying to get the others would have left them all swimming (someone said they swam somewhere) without life jackets and being saved by nearby boats thereafter. just feel many lives died needlessly.

however, this tragedy has reinforced for me to 'run' when asked to, and not collect my handbag first when the fire alarm 'tests' are taking place. always believed you would have a few seconds to gather some stuff.

yes, it is all too confusing but I just can't shake off the feeling the crew saved themselves.

@Sharingsomewisdom the mother and baby were rescued from the water - I don't know how many others were in the lifeboat when it launched and how many were hauled in.

The crew would have been following a process, almost certainly, and that process may well be to launch the lifeboat whilst you can and effect rescue from the boat.

Also - if the boat sank in two minutes, as reported, then there was hardly time to do anything. If the liferaft wasn't released and crewed, it would have gone down with the yacht. For all we know, the chef who died may have been the crew member allocated to rouse guests.

I think it is pretty unfair to characterise the crew as 'leaving others to die whilst saving themselves' - as with putting your oxygen mask on first, you have to live to have a chance of helping others.

oh, ok. re mother and baby! bless her! thanks.

I get the procedure being invoked- but does it also incl 'forget everyone else not around and set off'? because the crew were 12, I can see at one point captain shouting to one of them to launch it. I just wish somehow that space allowed them to alert everyone.

the rescue boat was there very quickly as that captain had immediately notice that yacht was gone.

The suggestion the crew left the others to die is spurious conjecture and you should withdraw those remarks as they are highly offensive and extremely upsetting for those who survived this incident.

I don't know - but I would hope that some kind of alarm was going off to rouse the others. I would be very surprised if the captain 'forgot everyone else' - he had some souls on board the liferaft and a chance of saving others, plus I think the raft had a capacity of 11 (presumably there were 2) and he would have risked those lives too if he had waited.

Again - it seems it was a matter of a couple of minutes before it sank.

thanks. good explanation re chef. others are saying he was sleeping as not working. but his body being discovered soon, points to your explanation and he was overwhelmed by the water he encountered or trapped him on his way down.

lynch's wife was very lucky to leave their more easily accessible cabin and got to the deck on time.

oh, it is just the feeling I had which I am sure will clear when all facts are known.