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A secretive American billionaire has just taken the keys to a jaw-dropping $150 million Lurssen superyacht. After almost 4 years of anticipation, ‘Haven’ is finally here, stretching 292 feet and boasting expansive balconies, an outdoor cinema, and even a pizza oven.

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Questions for Investigators Trying to Unravel Mystery of Luxury Yacht’s Sinking

The investigators searching for answers about the shipwreck, leaving seven dead, face questions about extreme weather and possible human error or problems with the yacht itself.

By Alan Yuhas

More than 180 feet long, with a mast towering about 240 feet and a keel that could be lowered for greater stability, the Bayesian luxury yacht did not, in the eyes of its maker, have the vulnerabilities of a ship that would easily sink.

“It drives me insane,” Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which in 2022 bought the company that made the ship, said after its wreck last week. “Following all the proper procedures, that boat is unsinkable.”

But the $40 million sailing yacht sank within minutes and with fatal results: seven dead, including the British technology billionaire Michael Lynch, his teenage daughter, four of Mr. Lynch’s friends and a member of the crew. Fifteen people, including the captain, escaped on a lifeboat.

Mr. Lynch had invited family, friends and part of his legal team on a cruise in the Mediterranean to celebrate his acquittal in June of fraud charges tied to the sale of his company to the tech giant Hewlett-Packard.

The Italian authorities have opened a manslaughter investigation, searching for answers from the survivors, the manufacturer and the wreck itself. They face a range of questions and possible factors.

An ‘earthquake’ in the sky?

When the Bayesian sank around 4 a.m. on Aug. 19, the waters in its area, about half a mile off the Sicilian port of Porticello, were transformed by an extremely sudden and violent storm, according to fishermen, a captain in the area and meteorologists.

But what kind of storm is still a mystery, compounded by the fact that a sailing schooner anchored nearby did not have its own disaster. Also unclear is whether the crew was aware that the Italian authorities had issued general warnings about bad weather the night before.

Karsten Börner, the captain of the nearby passenger ship, said he’d had to steady his ship during “really violent” winds . During the storm, he said, the Bayesian seemed to disappear behind his ship.

Severe lightning and strong gusts were registered by the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, according to Attilio Di Diodato, its director. “It was very intense and brief in duration,” he said.

The yacht, he said, had most likely been hit by a fierce downburst — a blast of powerful wind surging down during a thunderstorm. His agency put out rough-sea warnings the previous evening, alerting sailors about possible storms.

Locals have said the winds “felt like an earthquake.” A fisherman in Porticello said that he had seen a flare go off in the early-morning hours. His brother ventured to the site once the weather had calmed about 20 minutes later, he said, finding only floating cushions.

The Italian authorities have so far declined to say whether investigators had seen any structural damage to the hull or other parts of the ship.

Open hatches or doors?

The boat executive, Mr. Costantino, has argued that the Bayesian was an extremely safe vessel that could list even to 75 degrees without capsizing. His company, the Italian Sea Group, in 2022 bought the yacht’s manufacturer, Perini Navi, which launched the ship in 2008.

Mr. Costantino said that if some of the hatches on the side and in the stern, or some of the deck doors, had been open, the boat could have taken on water and sunk. Standard procedure in such storms, he said, would be to switch on the engine, lift the anchor and turn the boat into the wind, lowering the keel for extra stability, closing doors and gathering the guests in the main hall inside the deck.

At a news conference on Saturday, almost a week after the sinking, investigators said the yacht had sunk at an angle , with its stern — where the heavy engine was — having gone down first. The wreck was found lying on its right side at the bottom of a bay, about 165 feet deep.

12 guests occupied the yacht’s six cabins. There were also 10 crew members.

Open hatches, doors and cabin windows could have let in water during a storm, according to the manufacturer.

Open hatches, doors and

cabin windows could

have let in water

during a storm,

according to the

manufacturer.

Source: Superyacht Times, YachtCharterFleet, MarineTraffic

By Veronica Penney

Water pouring into open hatches or doors could have contributed to the sinking, experts say, but that on its own may not account for the speed at which such a large boat vanished underwater.

Asked about the hatches at the news conference, the authorities declined to comment on whether they had been found open at the wreck.

The authorities have also not specified whether the boat had been anchored, whether it was under power at the time or whether its sails had been unfurled.

A retracted keel?

The Bayesian had a keel — the fin-like structure beneath a boat that can help stabilize it — that could be retracted or extended, according to its manufacturer. On some yachts, keels can be raised to let the large vessel dock in shallower water, and extended downward to help keep a boat level.

But like the hatches, the status of the keel alone may not explain why a large ship sank with such precipitous speed. Investigators have not disclosed what divers may have seen at the wreck, aside from saying divers had faced obstacles like furnishings and electrical wiring in tight quarters. Officials want to raise the wreck to better examine it, a process that may take weeks.

Human error?

Ambrogio Cartosio, the prosecutor in charge of the case, said at the news conference that it was “plausible” crimes had been committed, but that investigators had not zeroed in on any potential suspects.

“There could be responsibilities of the captain only,” he said. “There could be responsibilities of the whole crew. There could be responsibilities of the boat makers. Or there could be responsibilities of those who were in charge of surveilling the boat.”

It remains unclear what kind of emergency training or preparation took place before the disaster, or what kind of coordination there was during it. So far, none of the surviving crew members have made a public statement about what happened the night the ship sank.

Prosecutors said they want to ask more questions of the captain and crew, who have been in a Sicilian hotel with other survivors. They said that neither alcohol nor drug tests had been performed on crew members, and that they have been allowed to leave Italy.

Prosecutors also said they were also investigating why the captain, an experienced sailor, left the sinking boat while some passengers were still on board.

Besides possible manslaughter charges, the authorities are investigating the possibility of a negligently caused shipwreck.

The bodies of five passengers were found in one cabin, on the left side of the yacht, the authorities said. The five were most likely trying to flee to the higher side of the boat and were probably sleeping when the boat started to sink, they said.

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Russian Company MSZ JSC

Brief profile.

active Commercial

Facts to Consider

4 more firms are registered at the address of the organization.

The organization is the founder (co-founder) of a mass media

The organization holds 16 licenses.

show 2 more positive facts

Complete Profile

• 1. General Information
• 2. Registration in the Russian Federation
• 3. Company's Activities
• 4. Legal Address
• 5. Owners, Founders of the Entity
• 6. MSZ JSC CEO
• 7. Entities Founded by Company
• 8. Company Finance
• 9. Timeline of key events
• 10. Latest Changes in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE)

General Information

Full name of the organization: MSZ MACHINERY MANUFACTURING PLANT, JOINT-STOCK COMPANY

TIN: 5053005918

KPP: 505301001

PSRN: 1025007111491

Location: 144001, Moscow Oblast, Elektrostal, ul. Karla Marksa, 12

Line of business: Processing of nuclear fuel (OKVED code 24.46)

Organization status: Commercial, active

Form of incorporation: Non-public joint-stock companies (code 12267 according to OKOPF)

Registration in the Russian Federation

The tax authority where the legal entity is registered: Mezhraionnaia inspektsiia Federalnoi nalogovoi sluzhby №6 po Moskovskoi oblasti (inspection code – 5031). The tax authority before 08/23/2021 – Inspektsiia Federalnoi nalogovoi sluzhby po g. Elektrostali Moskovskoi oblasti (code 5053).

Registration with the Pension Fund: registration number 060055000355 dated 19 December 1991.

Registration with the Social Insurance Fund: registration number 501900175750191 dated 22 November 2000.

Company's Activities

The main activity of the organization is Processing of nuclear fuel (OKVED code 24.46).

Additionally, the organization listed the following activities:

The organization is included in the Roskomnadzor registry of registered mass media as a founder (co-founder) of the following media:

MSZ JSC holds licenses entitling to carry out the following activities:

The organization is included in the Roskomnadzor registry as a personal data processing operator .

Legal Address

MSZ JSC is registered at 144001, Moscow Oblast, Elektrostal, ul. Karla Marksa, 12. ( show on a map )

The following organization are also registered at the following address (including liquidated organizations):

• CENTRAL DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE JSC

The reason may be that the address’s accuracy wasn’t ascertained after the registration. Otherwise the address can be recognized as an address of mass legal entities registration.

Owners, Founders of the Entity

The list of organization’s shareholders is kept at registrar AO "NRK-R.O.S.T." .

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) the organization’s founder is (can be inconsistent with the current shareholders composition – the relevant details are available at the registrar only):

Subject to the entire chain of the current founders, the list of MSZ JSC ultimate founders is as follows:

MSZ JSC CEO

The head of the organization (a person who has the right to act on behalf of a legal entity without a power of attorney) since 10 August 2021 is general manager Bagdatev Dmitrii Nikolaevich (TIN: 505304128446).

• (general manager from 07/08/2019 until 08/10/2021 * )
• (general manager from 01/25/2011 until 07/10/2019 * )

Entities Founded by Company

Currently MSZ JSC is listed as a founder in the following organizations:

• OOO "MSZ-M" (Moscow Oblast, Elektrostal; 97.44%; 38 million RUB)
• OOO UNTS "NUKLON" PRI MGTU IM. N.E.BAUMANA (Moscow; 49%; 4.9 thousand RUB)

Previously the organization was listed as a founder in:

• ANO "KSK "KRISTALL" (Moscow Oblast, Elektrostal) - until 12/15/2021
• 1-I NPF AO (Moscow; 0.34%; 1.2 million RUB) - until 12/31/2021
• TOR "SOVET PROMYSHLENNIKOV I PREDPRINIMATELEI GORODSKOGO OKRUGA ELEKTROSTAL MOSKOVSKOI OBLASTI" (Moscow Oblast, Elektrostal) - until 12/15/2021
• AO "TVEL-STROI" (Moscow; 1.7 million RUB) - until 10/04/2021
• TSZH "ELEMASH-VOSTOK" (Moscow Oblast, Elektrostal) - until 01/01/2022

Company Finance

The Authorized capital of MSZ JSC is 1.7 billion RUB.

Until 05/25/2020 the authorized capital was 1.7 billion RUB., before 02/14/2019 – 1.6 billion RUB, before 02/13/2018 – 1.6 billion RUB

The net assets of MSZ JSC as of 12/31/2021 totaled 57.2 billion RUB.

The MSZ JSC’s operation in 2021 resulted in the profit of 1.7 billion RUB. This is by 26.6 % less than in 2020. Please note that the financial performance is given for 2021; no data available for 2023.

The organization is not subject to special taxation regimes (operates under a common regime).

The organization had no tax arrears as of 08/10/2024.

Timeline of key events

Latest changes in the unified state register of legal entities (usrle).

• 06/24/2024 . Show
• 05/25/2024 . Representation by the licensing authority of information about the grant of a license.
• 11/18/2023 . Representation by the licensing authority of information about the grant of a license.
• 09/07/2023 . State registration of changes made to the constituent documents of a legal entity related to changes in information about a legal entity contained in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, based on an application.
• 06/13/2023 . Representation by the licensing authority of information about the grant of a license.

* The date of change in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities is shown (may be different from the actual date).

The data presented on this page have been obtained from official sources: the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE), the State Information Resource for Financial Statements, the website of the Federal Tax Service (FTS), the Ministry of Finance and the Federal State Statistics Service.

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