Italy Opens Criminal Investigation Into Superyacht Sinking

The investigation will seek to determine how such a large vessel, deemed ‘unsinkable’ by its manufacturer, sank in about 15 minutes, causing seven deaths.

Rescue personnel operate on boats on the sea near the area where a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, Sicily, on Aug. 20, 2024. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

Italian authorities have announced that a manslaughter investigation has been launched into the deaths of seven people in connection with the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht off the coast of Sicily.

Ambrogio Cartosio, a government prosecutor in the Italian town of Termini Imerese, said in an Aug. 24 press conference that his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter.