The boss of a firm which makes and sells vessels like Mike Lynch’s sunken superyacht has questioned why its crew were not in a “state of alert” when a storm hit.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the company that makes the Perini vessels, told Sky News they “are absolutely safe”, suggesting human error was behind the boat going down.
He said the “event” that capsized the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, on Monday “could have been managed with an average amount of attention”.
“There are a whole series of operations that highlight a chain of negative events that were negatively managed on board,” he said.
“The first is why the ship and the crew were not in a state of alert, given the storm from the weather charts that everyone could read and in particular had to be read by the ship’s bridge guard, the event was absolutely readable and expected.”
He said the yacht’s crew should have been in a state of “alert management”, meaning everyone on board had to be in the main lounge, which is the assembly point, rather than their cabins.
No one should have been on deck, while the captain, James Cutfield, should have been inside with the engines to manage the ship, he said.
“The ship, both the hull and the superstructure, all the openings, were supposed to be closed,” he added.
Image: Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
No official cause has been given for why the boat sank as powerful winds battered the area overnight and reports of waterspouts, which are like tornados that form over water.
Some experts have speculated the vessel may have taken on water from a freak wave through open hatches or doors or capsized as gusts hit the huge mast.
Prosecutors investigating the sinking are continuing to question the survivors, with the captain among those to be interviewed.
Mr Costantino asked: “Why was the ship in that situation? The storm was readable… We must ask ourselves why none of the fishermen in the port of Porticello went out at sea that night? Why did no one go out to sea?
“Everyone knew about the storm. And then, if a fisherman knew, why the commander of a ship of such importance, with guests of such level and importance, with 12 guests on board… Why wasn’t he in an alert situation?”
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The vessel sank in as little as 60 seconds with 22 people on board, 12 passengers and a crew of 10, according to the Italian coastguard.
Six bodies have been found, including British tech tycoon Mr Lynch, while his 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still missing.
Mr Costantino has insisted there are no flaws with the design and construction of the yacht and that the Perini vessels “are the safest in the most absolute sense”, with their structure and keel making them what he called “unsinkable bodies”.
He said news of the sinking “put me in a state of sadness on one side and of disbelief on the other”.
Four British inspectors are also in Porticello and have begun a preliminary assessment of events.
It is understood they will look at all relevant aspects of the sinking, including the design, stability, and operation of the vessel. They will also examine the effects of the weather conditions experienced.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said: “The MAIB is investigating the foundering of the UK-registered large yacht Bayesian off the northern coast of Sicily on 19 August 2024.
“It would not be appropriate for the MAIB to comment further while the investigation is ongoing.”
Sky News has also contacted Italian investigators, Italy’s coastguard and captain James Cutfield for comment.
A man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration has been returned to the US to face criminal charges.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Tennessee with conspiring to transport illegal immigrants into the US, attorney general Pam Bondi said on Friday.
Court records have shown the indictment was filed on 21 May, more than two months after he was deported from the US under a controversial 18th-century wartime law.
Image: US attorney general Pam Bondi, alongside her deputy Todd Blanche, outlined the charges at a news conference. Pic: AP
In a statement, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer Andrew Rossman said it would now be up to the US judicial system to ensure he received due process.
“Today’s action proves what we’ve known all along – that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,” he said.
Salvadoran Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported from Maryland despite an immigration judge’s 2019 order granting him protection after finding he was likely to be persecuted by local gangs if he was returned to his native country.
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia worked with at least five co-conspirators to bring immigrants to the US illegally and transport them from the border to other destinations in the country.
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On Friday, Ms Bondi outlined the charges at a news conference, saying: “The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring.
“He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found – smuggling people throughout our country… MS-13 [international criminal gang] members, violent gang terrorist organisation members… throughout our country.
“He will be prosecuted in our country, sentenced in our country if convicted and then returned after completion of his sentence.”
Ms Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia to the US after American officials presented his government with an arrest warrant.
Image: Chris Van Hollen (R) speaks to Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: Press Office Senator Van Hollen/AP
Democrat senator Chris Van Hollen travelled to El Salvador in April to meet Abrego Garcia, arguing his constitutional rights to due process were being ignored.
Critics of Donald Trump have pointed to the deportation of Abrego Garcia as an example of the excesses of the Republican president’s aggressive immigration policies.
US District Judge Paula Xinis has opened a probe into what, if anything, Mr Trump’s administration has done to secure his return, after his lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information.
Image: Jennifer Vasquez Sura (R) filed a legal complaint over the deportation of her husband. Pic: AP
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Officials responded by alleging that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang – something his lawyers have strongly denied.
In a separate statement, Pam Bondi also attacked what she called the “Fake News Media” and repeated the – yet unproven – allegations against Abrego Garcia.
“The Justice Department’s Grand Jury Indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools.
“Abrego Garcia was never an innocent ‘Maryland Man’- Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker who has spent his entire life abusing innocent people, especially women and the most vulnerable.”
Senior White House officials will meet with a Chinese delegation in London on Monday for the next round of trade talks, US President Donald Trump has said.
The meeting comes after a phone call between Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the US president said was “very positive” – lasting about an hour and a half.
Speaking to reporters on Friday from Air Force One, the president added that it was a “good talk”, describing the deal as “complicated”, but one that “will bring us a lot of money”.
He also said: “I get along well with Xi and China.”
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0:54
US and China reach agreement on tariffs
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said the upcoming London meeting “should go very well” and added that treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and trade representative Jamieson Greer would represent the US at the talks.
It is unclear who will represent China.
The two countries are at an impasse over tariffs and a dispute involving critical rare earth mineral exports, in which China remains the dominant producer.
On 12 May, China and the US struck a 90-day deal in Geneva to pause retaliatory tariffs placed on each other since Mr Trump was inaugurated in January.
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The US president said the move was part of a “total reset” in relations.
The agreement prompted a global surge in stock markets and US indexes that were in, or approaching, bear market levels.
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3:44
US and China end trade war
The temporary deal saw the US reduce its 145% tariff to 30% on Chinese goods.
China also agreed to reduce its 125% retaliatory tariffs to 10% on US goods.
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The Chinese foreign ministry said the US president initiated the call, and they had asked him to “remove the negative measures” in place against China.
It also said that Mr Trump said “the US loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America”.
This is despite his administration previously saying it will “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US.
Since Mr Trump’s re-election, the president has frequently issued threats of punitive trade measures against US partners, only to backtrack at the last minute.
Israel has issued a fresh warning to civilians in northern Gaza, saying its military is about to carry out intensive operations there.
It comes after Israel said rockets were fired from the area.
Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip have marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays, amid little hope the conflict will end any time soon.
Much of Gaza lies in ruins, with men and children forced to hold the traditional Eid al Adha prayers in the open air, and as food supplies dwindle.
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8:49
UN: 500,000 are food insecure in Gaza
Food and aid were blocked from entering the Palestinian territory for more than two months, but a trickle of supplies has been allowed in over the last few weeks.
The UN said it cannot distribute much of the aid, due to the risk of looters and restrictions on movement.
“This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,” said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis.
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“There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses… The conditions are very, very harsh.”
The Islamic holiday begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia.
It is the second year Muslims in Gaza have been unable to travel to the country to perform the traditional pilgrimage.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages, with a third of them believed to be alive. The rest have been released in ceasefire agreements, with forces rescuing eight living hostages from Gaza and recovering dozens of bodies.
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0:42
Situation in Gaza ‘utterly intolerable’
Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its military campaign, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians or combatants in its figures.
Around 90% of the population of two million has been displaced.