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Superyacht Builder Launches €456m Lawsuit Over Bayesian Sinking
The builder of the superyacht Bayesian has filed a €456m (£399m) lawsuit against the widow of British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch, claiming the fatal sinking of the vessel in 2024 caused a catastrophic collapse in its business. ( Cover Photo: Simon Westwood from Vesselfinder.)
According to a report by The Telegraph, the Italian Sea Group (TISG) has lodged the claim in a court in Termini Imerese, Sicily, alleging that the yacht’s crew and its owning company, Revtom, were responsible for the accident. Mr Lynch, his teenage daughter Hannah and five others died when the 56-metre yacht capsized during a storm off the Sicilian coast in August 2024.
TISG argues that crew negligence and operational failures — including failing to secure hatches, heed weather warnings and lower the keel — led to the vessel overturning. The company maintains that the Bayesian was “unsinkable” by design and that blame placed on the builder has caused severe reputational damage. It says sales of the Perini Navi brand, which constructed the yacht in 2008, have fallen to zero since the tragedy.
The lawsuit names Revtom, which is legally owned by Mr Lynch’s widow, Angela Bacares Lynch, as well as the yacht’s captain and two crew members. TISG claims it has suffered a “ruinous” loss of revenue, a sharp fall in its share price and the collapse of long-term sales plans that had targeted nearly €1bn in yacht orders by 2028.
However, the legal action comes amid unresolved questions about the yacht’s design. A report by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch previously found that the vessel had stability “vulnerabilities” that were not fully understood by the crew. A source close to the Lynch family told The Telegraph that the lawsuit was “desperate, opportunistic and in bad faith”, arguing it was designed to distract from potential design flaws.
Italian prosecutors have confirmed that crew members remain under criminal investigation, while separate legal proceedings continue in the UK over claims linked to Mr Lynch’s business career.
Source: The Telegraph, James Titcomb, 21 January 2026
