The bodies of the six people missing after the Bayesian yacht sank off the coast of Italy have already been found, but there are still some mysteries about the accident that experts have not been able to solve. Here are some of them.
With 22 people on board, at dawn on August 19, the luxury yacht Bayesian who sailed along the coasts of Sicily, Italy was reportedly hit by waterspouts, tornadoes born in the sea following a storm.
Although most of the passengers were able to survive, six people disappeared and, over the days, were found dead by rescue teams. It was a complicated mission, since the divers could barely move in the narrow corridors of the ship.
And that’s it The yacht was sunk at a depth of 50 metres and laid on its side.
What went wrong? Whose fault is it?
Although some believe that it could be due to a technical problem with the ship or the strategy of the captain and his crew, others believe that the weather phenomenon was solely responsible.
There are no answers yet, but there are still unsolved puzzles surrounding the Bayesian shipwreck. These are four mysteries that he saved BBC World about the tragic accident.
1- What the Bayesian crew did during the storm warning
The captain of the Bayesian, James Cutfield, one of the survivors, told the Italian press that for him, It was impossible to predict the storm that eventually sank the yacht.
However, the weather forecast for this region already indicated bad weather.
This is why some experts, such as the president of Italian Meteorological Society Luca Mercalli, explained that The crew and captain should have ensured that during the storm, guests were awake and had their life jackets within reach.
But, Apparently, there has never been such an alert. According to BbcOne survivor claimed the ship began to sink just two minutes after she fell asleep.
But, although bad weather could have been predicted, Waterspouts are unpredictable phenomena.
But, according to researchers, There are elements that could perhaps have prevented the yacht from sinking: for example, the windows and doors of the yacht were open when the storm started, which allowed water to enter quickly, thus facilitating the start of the sinking of the yacht.
“Of course there will be questions about the crew and what happened, and whether they were prepared,” said crew member Jean-Baptiste Souppez. Royal Institute of Naval Architects and editor-in-chief of the magazine Sailing Technology Journal .
However, the expert said that “It is important to remember that the ship sank in a matter of minutes, so in reality, for the crew to be able to keep so many people alive on board in the middle of the night, deploy the flare and act in the tension of the moment is a difficult task.
Then came comments from Dr Paul Scott, also a fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, who said it was difficult to know exactly what happened on the yacht that morning.
“But “It is unlikely that the crew could have reacted in any way to save the yacht in the face of such a sudden and catastrophic weather event.”
2- Why did the ship sink so quickly?
According to one of the doctors who treated the survivors, The boat “capsized within minutes.” But is it possible that this could happen?
According to Jean-Baptiste Souppez, “For the ship to sink, especially at that speed, water would have to force its way into the ship along its entire length.”
“Boats like this aren’t really designed to withstand a period of 90-degree weather. Therefore, if the ship was at 90 degrees, water would have to come in whether the hatches were open or not. Although this would obviously speed up the process.
Some experts believe that One of the waterspouts passing over the Bayesian could have been “burst” by the mast, causing all the water it was carrying to fall rapidly onto the ship. and, therefore, he sank it quickly.
However, none of these theories have yet been confirmed.
3- What happened to the yacht’s keel?
The keel of a boat is one of the most important parts of its structure. : It is this elongated part, similar to a fin, which protrudes from its base. In fact, it is its bottom which ensures the stability of the boat.
So when the wind pushes the boat to one side, the keel lifts and pushes it back to level it, creating balance and stability. If this part is in a high position, the boat becomes more unstable.
In view of the above, Experts are questioning the role of the keel in the yacht’s accident: given that the Bayesian is 50 meters deep, this suggests that there was no reason to retract the keel.
If the crew had activated it, it could have made the ship unstable.
However, it is still unclear what position the keel is in, so this theory remains a mystery.
4- The theory of waterspouts
Witnesses claim that They saw how a waterspout formed during the storm, that early morning of August 19 on the coast of Sicily.
It is a tornado, similar to a rotating column of destructive winds, that can occur on land or sea. In this case, it was in the sea and it turns the water inside and, although it usually does not last long, it is very destructive.
The Bayesian would have been “unlucky” to encounter one, however, scientists fear that current conditions on the planet, due to climate change, may make waterspouts an increasingly frequent phenomenon.
According to the International Center for Waterspout Research , On August 19 alone, 18 waterspouts were confirmed off the Italian coast.
Expert Souppez nevertheless calls for calm, because The probability of a waterspout hitting a boat, as could have happened with the luxury yacht, remains very low.
“I think the end result will be that even if there were problems with the keel or the open hatches, we “We are facing a strange meteorological accident.”
Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.