Bayesian captain refuses to answer questions about wreck as engineer placed under investigation amid manslaughter probe

THE CAPTAIN of the doomed Bayesian yacht is refusing to answer questions about the horrific shipwreck that killed seven people, his lawyers have revealed.

Kiwi Captain James Cutfield, 51, is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck with the yacht engineer also named in the probe.

An official investigation was opened into Mr Cutfield on Monday with one of his lawyers revealing how the skipper opted not to answer questions from Italian prosecutors yesterday.

Mr Cutfield's lawyer Giovanni Rizzuti told press that he is "very worn out" and chose to remain silent as the probe kicks off, 9News reports.

It comes as the yacht's engineer Brit Tim Parker Eaton has also been placed under investigation by prosecutors, a judicial source told Reuters today.

It is unclear what specific charges Mr Parker-Eaton, from Clophill, Bedfordshire, faces.

Rizzuti also said that Mr Cutfield's legal team was only formed on Monday meaning they need more time to build a case before he can comment.

The £14million luxury Bayesian capsized and sank off the coast of Porticello in Sicily on August 19 killing Brit billionaire tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18.

Five others died including four guests of the Lynchs' and the yacht chef, Recaldo Thomas.

Mr Cutfield's other lawyer, Aldo Mordiglia, also revealed how he was too "shaken up" to give a proper statement as cops began questioning him on Tuesday.

Mordiglia told The Times: “He is understandably very shaken up, and secondly us lawyers were only appointed yesterday and we need to acquire information we do not have in order to defend him.”

He previously told how Mr Cutfield intends on cooperating with the investigation, but said he has a right under Italian law to remain silent.

Any statements he makes can be used as formal evidence in a potential trial into charges of culpable homicide, the Italian equivalent of manslaughter in the UK.

Mr Cutfield was questioned at the hotel in Palermo where crew are thought to be staying after the surviving passengers left on a private jet on Sunday.

It is unclear whether Mr Cutfield, who lives in Mallorca with his wife, will stay in Sicily until the probe ends.

He was quizzed by cops for hours after the tragic disaster last week as questions were raised over how the luxury vessel took on so much water and sank so quickly.

Interviews he gave then, before he was formally named as part of the probe, cannot be used as evidence in a trial.

Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt - and does not mean he will be formally charged.

Maritime law gives a captain full responsibility for the ship and the crew, as well as the safety of all aboard.

None of the other eight surviving crew members have made any public comment yet on the disaster.

Prosecutors may also investigate a crew member who was on duty when the storm hit and survived the disaster, according to local reports.

Divers spent five days scouring the wreck of the 184ft superyacht, lying almost completely intact on the sea floor, to retrieve the victims.

The Bayesian had 22 people onboard when it sank at around 4am, with 15 survivors.

Of the 15, 11 including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, 57, escaped on an inflatable life raft.

Chief Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said the victims would have been asleep when a tornado-like waterspout struck the boat, leaving them unable to escape.

Witnesses and officials have said the swirling cloud of air and water hit the boat's mast, toppling it and causing it to capsize.

In a press conference on Saturday, Mr Cartosio said there may have been “behaviours that were not perfectly in order with regard to the responsibility everybody had”.

He added: “There could be in fact the question of homicide. But this is the beginning of the inquiry, we cannot exclude anything at all.”

He said one line of inquiry was whether the crew attempted to raise the alarm with passengers before getting on the lifeboat and escaping.

Mr Cartosio vowed to “discover how much they (the crew) knew and to what extent all the people (passengers) were warned.”

He said: “We will establish each element’s (crew) responsibility. For me, it is probable that offences were committed — that it could be a case of manslaughter.”

Lead prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said Italy’s Air Force found the boat was sunk by a downburst that descended from a thunderstorm.

He said there were forecasts of strong winds and a storm alert but good visibility and no suggestion of a tornado.

He added: “Given the conditions were such, there wasn’t anything to suggest there could be an extreme situation.

“There are vessels that can monitor these events and one would have thought the captain had taken precautions.”

He said one person was on watch in the cockpit at the time of the accident.

Authorities now face a delicate task in extracting the wreck from the sea intact so that it can be properly investigated.