This month, a tech mogul’s 183-foot sailing yacht sank off the coast of Italy after a storm hit the area. It was the middle of the night, and passengers were in their cabins. Mike Lynch, aka the “Bill Gates of Britain,” his 18-year-old daughter, and five others died. Lynch’s wife, whose company owns the boat, survived, along with 14 others. Oddly, a much older vessel parked less than 500 feet from the Bayesian suffered zero damage. In the unfolding aftermath, Italian officials announced three crew members are now under investigation for possibly causing the disaster.

The Italian Sea Group owns Perini Navi, the ship’s builder. The company built the Bayesian in 2008 and ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 2021. In December, ISG acquired Perini. As such, ISG takes zero formal responsibility for vessels built before the acquisition. Still, Giovanni Costantino has much to say on the matter. He’s the CEO of ISG.

“Seven people have died onboard a vessel with our brand, which is why I want to speak up, also out of respect and closeness to the families who have lost relatives and friends,” Costantino said, per the Guardian. “I imagine the crew is going through the worst moment of their lives. However, something in the way they handled the situation did not work. There was a chain of human errors.”

According to Constantino, the Bayesian yacht was designed to remain afloat even if an entire compartment filled with water. “The strong wind arrived at 3:50 am. Up until that moment, the Bayesian was still anchored. From 3:50 to 4:03, the ship moved as it was dragged by the wind, tilting towards the side where there is a lateral hatch that leads to the garage,” he explained.

The garage stores recreational equipment, including jet skis and inflatables. Coincidentally, there’s a hatch leading to the engine room inside the garage. In theory, if the ship tilted over during the storm and the garage took on water, the ship should have been okay. If the crew properly prepared for the storm, they would have checked the door to the engine room. Keeping it closed would protect it from any oceanic breach.

Constantino continues, “In the garage, there is another door leading to the engine room. If that door was open, it means that water has also entered the engine room, causing the inevitable sinking.”

Considering this theory, Italian officials placed the yacht’s captain, its engineer, and a sailor under investigation for shipwreck and manslaughter. Insiders emphasize that the theory is just that and would be difficult to prove without recovering the boat.

Still, Constantino seems certain of crew errors. “I can tell you with certainty that the ship took on water in these 13 minutes. It took on water not only flooding the garage but also the engine room.”

To add further support to the theory, another boat built in 1957, the Dutch vessel Sir Robert Baden Powell, floated less than 500 feet from the Bayesian. That boat came out completely unharmed and even assisted when the Bayesian yacht took on water.

“The local fishermen did not go out that night. These people took the weather conditions seriously. How did the crew of the Bayesian not take the meteorological bulletin seriously? I struggle to explain it,” Constantino asserted, “How did they, when they realised they were losing the ship, not think of rescuing the passengers who were in the cabins? At the moment, only God knows.”