Millions claim against widow drowned owner Bayesian

TISG, the Italian builder of the Bayesian, the superyacht that capsized and sank in 2024, killing seven people, is claiming 456 million euros in compensation for reputational damage.

We previously reported in our columns about a claim allegedly made by TISG. That was then about a sum of over 222 million, also quite a high amount considering the value of the Bayesian (22 million). So high that everyone reacted with bewilderment and the lawyer who filed the claim was sacked immediately. Less than a year and a half later, it turns out that things can be even crazier.

The claim was filed in Termini Imerese, naming the captain of the 56-metre Perini Navi (the Bayesian’s superyacht brand; Perini Navi is owned by TISG, ed.), two crew members and the yacht’s owner as defendants. The 56-metre yacht with a 70-metre mast is owned by a British company owned by Angela Baceres, wife of Mike Lynch, who died in the disaster. Baceres survived the disaster, along with 14 others.

No design flaw

TISG argues in its claim that the Bayesian was structurally sound and that the loss resulted from failure to secure hatches, failure to respond to weather warnings and failure to deploy the ship’s keel. The company maintains that these actions, and not a design flaw, were responsible for the sinking. The shipbuilder claims that the ship’s crew thus negligently caused the sinking, damaging the builder’s reputation and destroying valuable business relationships. No Perini Navi-branded yacht has reportedly been sold since the sinking. Partly as a result, TISG shares fell from 10.86 euros to 4.60 euros between March 2024 and January 2026. TISG’s claim mainly revolves around reputational damage; the yacht was considered to be unsinkable.

Cynical

A source close to the Lynch family calls the claim as cynical as it is predictable: “The UK investigation has raised serious, unresolved questions about the design, stability and operational characteristics of the yacht, including vulnerabilities that were unknown to the owner and crew. This action appears designed to divert attention from these issues, but will not prevent a thorough investigation into the design, approval and construction of the vessel. It is a claim we can only describe as desperate, opportunistic and in bad faith.”

Price drop

TISG claims that the incident has had serious commercial consequences, including significant loss of sales and profits, a fall in its share price and a complete collapse in demand for Perini Navi, which it had acquired from bankruptcy in late 2021 for €80 million.
While TISG’s shares have indeed experienced a sharp decline since the tragedy, the trading pattern shows no clear one-off change that can be attributed to it with certainty. The sharpest decline – a fall of about 35 per cent – occurred only in early spring 2025, during a broader phase of risk aversion in global markets due to President Trump-induced concerns about trade and tariffs.
However, TISG maintains that the sinking caused material, commercial and reputational damage. According to TISG, sales of Perini Navi branded yachts have fallen to zero since the accident.

MAIB report

In contrast, the interim report by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), published on May 15 last year, concluded that when the yacht went down, it had stability problems that were not documented in the stability information. The Bayesian was known for her record-high single aluminium mast of over 70 metres, the tallest in the world at the time. Using advanced computer modelling, maritime experts from the University of Southampton determined for MAIB that the ship, in its configuration at the time of the accident, would be vulnerable to capsizing at wind speeds above 63.4 knots. Simulations by the UK Meteorological Office suggested that the extreme thunderstorm that morning produced possible surface wind speeds of over 87 knots.

The information about at what wind speed transverse to the hull the ship could capsize was not in the stability log. This had not been updated after changing the rig from two masts to single mast, and was therefore unknown to both the owners and crew. The authorities are still investigating the incident and the full report is expected later this year.
The MAIB has incidentally included in its report that its findings may not be used in court cases and does not comment on the question of blame.

Sources: an article by Willem de Niet in the Schuttevaer (subscribers only) and by Conor Feasy in Superyachtnews.
Headline photo: the salvaged Bayesian at TMC Marine’s yard (©TMC Marine).

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