Furious family of chef killed in Bayesian superyacht disaster lash out at crew for their response to storm forecasts and raise concerns over ‘series of failures’ for the tragedy

The family of the chef who died in the Bayesian superyacht tragedy off the coast of Sicily last year have criticised the crew’s response to the violent storm that caused the vessel to sink. 

Cook Recaldo Thomas, 59, was one of the seven people who died in the disaster last August aboard the luxury yacht owned by British tech billionaire Mike Lynch – who also lost his life alongside 18-year-old daughter Hannah.

Mr Thomas’s family said on Thursday that they were concerned about a ‘series of failures’ in the way the crew responded to a storm that struck the ship, causing it to capsize and sink.  

‘They have serious concerns about a series of failures evidently involved in the causes of this tragedy – failures in the design, safety certification and seaworthiness of the Bayesian, as well as the management by some of the crew to deal with a forecast mesocyclone storm,’ lawyer James Healy-Pratt is reported as saying on behalf of Mr Thomas’s family. 

Their remarks come after an investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said this week the crew of the doomed £30million yacht were ‘unaware’ of its ‘vulnerabilities.’

After reading the report, Mr Thomas’s family said they believed his death was ‘preventable.’

The family also condemned how the Bayesian was an ‘outlier in design’ with its single mast structure that ‘acted like an aerofoil in the storm conditions,’ the lawyer added. 

However, the interim report into the disaster found that the ‘vulnerabilities’ were ‘unknown to either the owner or the crew’ of the vessel’ as they were not included in the stability information book carried on board.  

The report also shows that wind speeds of 73mph directly on the vessel’s beam would ‘likely result in the vessel capsizing’.

Andrew Moll, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, said: ‘The findings indicate that the extreme wind experienced by Bayesian was sufficient to knock the yacht over.

‘Further, once the yacht had heeled beyond an angle of 70 degree the situation was irrecoverable.’

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Bayesian’s builders The Italian Sea Group, has previously said the sinking was ‘down to human error’ and insisted that it was ‘unsinkable’.

The detailed report provides an agonising breakdown of events, charting for the first time how the tragedy unfolded minute by minute off the coast near Porticello.

The MAIB have said however that this is an interim report based on limited verified evidence.

The report comes after investigators were forced to half the £20million salvage operation of the doomed superyacht after a diver involved tragically lost his life last week. 

Rob Huijben, 39, died as he worked to remove a boom hinge from Bayesian’s trademark 237ft mast at a depth of 160ft as preparatory work for the lift began last Friday. 

The incident was captured on CCTV by colleagues working on the surface in a support vessel and the Dutchman’s body was later recovered by a fellow diver and taken ashore. 

An autopsy on Thursday revealed that there were no signs of burns on the diver’s body, but that his death was compatible with an explosion that may have occurred when a torch used to cut the mast passed through pockets of hydrogen. 

On the night of August 18, the Bayesian had anchored next to the Sir Robert Baden Powell -a boat which would later rescue survivors – to shelter from the forecast thunderstorm.

At 3am, the deckhand on duty noted the wind as being at 8kts (9.2pmh) but thought that the thunderclouds and lightning seemed to be getting closer.

Less than an hour later at 3.55am, the deckhand ‘videoed the advancing storm and posted it to their social media feed’ before closing hatches and cockpit windows.

Within minutes the winds had picked up to 30kts (35mph) and the Bayesian was listing and dragging its anchor.

At around 4am, the deckhand woke up the skipper and the crew leapt into action by starting the generators and preparing to manoeuvre the Bayesian.

Meanwhile a British mother and her partner woke up and took their one-year-old daughter to the boat’s saloon.

The chef Recaldo Thomas, who would die in the tragedy, was in the galley securing the cutlery, pots and pans and called ‘Good morning!’ to the nearby stewards.

But as disaster struck as the skipper prepared to manoeuvre, the wind suddenly increased to more than 70kts (80.5mph) ripping the awning away.

At 4.06am the Bayesian ‘violently heeled over’ in less than 15 seconds to a 90-degree angle.

This sent people as well as furniture flying across the deck leaving five people including the captain were injured while a deckhand was thrown into the sea.

Two guests trapped in their cabin were forced to used furniture drawers as an improvised ladder to escape into the saloon area.

The report said there was no indication of flooding inside the vessel until water came in over the starboard rails and, within seconds, entered the cabins down the stairwells.

The yacht’s crew were able to push four guests through the cascading water up to the skipper on the flying bridge.

The Chief Officer who had been swept to the back of the saloon and into another air pocket, dived down to open the sliding doors at the end of the saloon and managed to swim clear of the vessel.

The captain called for the guests and crew who managed to escape to swim clear of the mast and boom as the vessel sank.

In the water, a deckhand improvised a tourniquet for a one of the guest’s gashed arms, while a baby was kept afloat on a cushion.

In the darkness, some of survivors were treading water while others held on to some cushions that had floated free from the yacht.

One of the guests frantically searched for other survivors in vain using the torch from their phone while the captain and chief officer frantically freed the life raft from the sinking wreck.

At around 4.24am the liferaft was inflated and the survivors were able to get inside it where the crew began administering first aid.

Desperate to raise the alarm with the nearby Sir Robert Baden Powell, the chief engineer fired several flares before they were spotted at 4.43am.

The skipper of Sir Robert Baden Powell dispatched its tender towards the 15 survivors and despite searching the area no one else was found.

The bodies were subsequently recovered after an agonising five-day search of the wreck on the seabed.