unsinkable sailing yachts

Sailing yachts like Mike Lynch's are 'unsinkable bodies', CEO of boat manufacturing firm says

Bayesian superyacht which sank off Italy is an "unsinkable" vessel, Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, said.

By Ashna Hurynag, news correspondent and Eleonora Chiarella, producer

Sunday 25 August 2024 08:48, UK

Vessels like Mike Lynch's stricken superyacht are "unsinkable", according to the chief executive of the firm which makes and sells them.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, told Sky News there are no flaws with the design and construction of the Bayesian superyacht which capsized in a storm off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, on Monday.

Five bodies were found by divers on Wednesday - taking the number of confirmed dead to six.

The Italian Sea Group also owns the firm that built British tech tycoon Mr Lynch's Bayesian, and Mr Costantino said the vessels "are the safest in the most absolute sense".

"Being the manufacturer of Perini [boats], I know very well how the boats have always been designed and built," he said.

"And as Perini is a sailing ship... sailing ships are renowned to be the safest ever."

He said their structure and keel made them "unsinkable bodies".

Read more on this story: Why search of superyacht wreck has been so difficult Hero mum 'slept with baby on deck when storm sank yacht'

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Mr Costantino said news of the sinking "put me in a state of sadness on one side and of disbelief on the other".

"This incident sounds like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact," he said.

It is understood Italian prosecutors investigating the incident are continuing to hold interviews with the survivors.

On Tuesday they questioned the captain for more than two hours to help reconstruct what happened and provide useful technical details.

Four British inspectors are also in Porticello and have begun a preliminary assessment of events.

It is understood they will look at all relevant aspects of the incident, including the design, stability, and operation of the vessel. They will also examine the effects of the weather conditions experienced.

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Twenty-two people were on board the vessel, 15 of whom were rescued - including Briton Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter Sofia.

Divers will resume efforts on Thursday morning to bring ashore a body they found earlier. One more person remains missing.

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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.

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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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YACHT HORROR: How did billionaire's 'unsinkable' boat end up on sea bottom? Back to video

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s cage was gilded to be sure but a cage nonetheless.

And when he was cleared, Lynch took pals for a Mediterranean cruise on his super yacht, the Bayesian, which he was mulling selling. That will never happen.

On Monday morning, the Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily killing Lynch, his daughter Hannah, 18, two couples and the yacht’s Canadian chef.

Now, investigators are trying to determine how — and why — the “unsinkable” 184-foot yacht sank 160 feet to the bottom of the sea. The yacht’s captain may be the only person who has the answers.

Here is the latest:

— Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, is still missing after five bodies were found in the wreck;

— His wife revealed she was awoken by a “tilt” as the yacht went down;

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— Experts believe the yacht’s “tallest mast in the world” may have contributed to the tragedy after a freak “Black Swan” weather event;

— Frantic text messages from survivors who piled into a tiny raft revealed the chaos.

For two hours following the disaster, police questioned Kiwi captain James Cutfield, 51.

One major question is why the Bayesian sank so quickly.

“Every time a vessel sinks, there is never just one reason,” shipwreck researcher Bertrand Scibo told The UK Sun . “It could be that the keel was also inside or outside, because they can remove the keel [sic].”

He added: [There would be] no reason to remove the keel because they do that only when they go into harbour. Only the captain will be able to answer this special question.”

So far, five bodies — including Lynch’s — have been recovered with six being confirmed dead. There were 15 survivors.

Scibo was also concerned regarding the slow trickle of information and answers being released by officials. He said “all the information seems to be a bit secret.”

The CEO of the company that manufactured the yacht, Giovanni Costantino, claimed his boats are “unsinkable” and the “safest ever.” Instead, he told Italian TV that “human error” was to blame.

As the horror unfolded in Porticello Harbour on Monday morning, witnesses in a smaller boat claimed the mast was hammered by a waterspout causing the boat to capsize — and then vanish beneath the waves.

A British lawyer specializing in maritime law told the Daily Mail that officials will likely target the crew for answers.

“They will want to find out if the captain was at fault over anything,” lawyer Stephen Askins said. “If I was looking at this I’d be very interested in the weather report, what the captain was briefing the crew and what the captain was briefing the owner.”

He added: “It’s a case of looking at what happened and then asking yourself whether in all the circumstances what he did was reasonable.”

Shipwreck researcher Scibo said open windows and portholes could also be a recipe for disaster with the water flooding in “very quickly,” expediting the yacht’s demise.

“If you’ve got a combination of all these reasons, the keel, the mast, the portal, the windows and this very big tornado,” he said. “You find the reason of the sinking.”

The child of Irish immigrants, Lynch won a scholarship to a posh private school and then attended Cambridge.

Only two months ago he won a shocking landmark victory in the U.S. courts. Tech giant Hewlett Packard claimed Lynch artificially inflated the value of his software firm, Autonomy.

He had sold Autonomy to HP for a whopping $11.7 billion in 2011.

Prosecutors had accused Lynch, along with Autonomy’s finance executive Stephen Chamberlain — who died in a tragic car crash Saturday — padded Autonomy’s bottom line.

After being cleared, Lynch told The Times of London that he had feared dying in prison.

″If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of my life as I have known it in any sense,” Lynch told the newspaper. “It’s bizarre, but now you have a second life — the question is, what do you want to do with it?”

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Mike Lynch’s yacht was ‘unsinkable’, says boss of company who built boat

Boats like Mike Lynch’s superyacht are “unsinkable”, according to the chief executive of the company that builds and sells the vessels.

Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, said there are no flaws with the design and construction of the Bayesian and it is “one of the safest boats in the world”.

The Bayesian, a 184-ft superyacht carrying 22 passengers and crew, was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it disappeared beneath the waves in a matter of minutes after a freak tornado struck.

The Italian Sea Group owns Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini that built the vessel owned by British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who was confirmed dead on Thursday after his body had been recovered from the wreck of the boat.

Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still unaccounted for. The bodies of the other four people who vanished when the boat went down were recovered from the yacht on Wednesday.

“The ship sank because it took on water, from where investigators will have to say,” Mr Costantino told television news programme TG1 late on Wednesday.

Citing data from the yacht’s automatic tracking system and based on available footage, Mr Costantino said it took 16 minutes from when the wind began buffeting the yacht, and it began taking on water, for it to sink.

Mr Costantino said the Milan-listed group had suffered “enormous damage” to its reputation, with shares falling 2.5 per cent since the disaster.

The disaster has baffled naval marine experts who said such a high end vessel should have top-class fittings and safety features and should have been able to withstand such weather.

Besides Mr Lynch and his daughter, the other people who failed to escape from the boat were Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch’s wife, managed to get to safety, while the body of the onboard chef, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreck hours after the disaster.

Specialist rescuers have been searching inside the hull of the sunken yacht for the past three days, but operations have been challenging due to the depth and the narrowness of the places that the divers are scouring, the fire brigade said.

Additional reporting by agencies

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Body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch is among those recovered from yacht wreckage, officials say

Italy boaters missing.

PORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — The Italian coast guard said Thursday the body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch is among those recovered off the coast of Sicily from the wreckage of a superyacht whose builders had called unsinkable.

One woman remains missing. She has not been identified, but Hannah Lynch, Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, is reportedly unaccounted for . The family had been celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with the people who defended him at trial in the United States.

Five others were recovered by rescue crews following Monday's tragedy.

The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged yacht, went down in a storm early Monday as it was moored about a kilometer (half a mile) offshore. Civil protection officials said they believe the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout , and sank quickly.

Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office investigators were collecting evidence for a criminal investigation, which they opened immediately after the tragedy despite no formal suspects having been publicly identified.

The chief executive of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian's manufacturer, told the AP in an interview on Thursday that superyachts like these are “designed to be unsinkable."

“And it is unsinkable not only because it is designed in this way, but also because it is a sailing ship and sailing ships are the safest ever,” CEO Giovanni Costantino said.

Costantino added that “obviously they must not hit the rocks violently, discarding the hull, and they must not take in water,” suggesting the second possibility was the most likely in this case.

Costantino also noted that sailing ships require “a greater competence” to be guided compared with motor boats.

Investigators are now looking at why the Bayesian, built in 2008 by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed . Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived by escaping in a lifeboat, including a mother who reported holding her 1-year-old baby over the waves to save her. They were rescued by the sailboat Sir Robert Baden Powell.

The sailboat's captain, Karsten Borner, said his craft sustained minimal damage — the frame of a sun awning broke — even with winds that he estimated had reached 12 on the Beaufort wind scale, the highest hurricane-strength force on the scale.

He said he had remained anchored with his engines running to try to maintain the ship’s position as the forecast storm rolled in.

“Another possibility is to heave anchor before the storm and to run downwind at open sea,” Borner said in a text message. But he said that might not have been possible for the Bayesian, given its 75-meter (246-foot) tall mast.

“If there was a stability problem, caused by the extremely tall mast, it would not have been better at open sea,” he said.

Yachts like the Bayesian are required to have watertight compartments that are specifically designed to prevent a rapid, catastrophic sinking even when some parts fill with water.

Lynch is the only person confirmed dead; the other bodies have not been formally identified by the Italian coast guard.

Besides Hannah Lynch, those missing are Christopher Morvillo, one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, and his wife, Neda; Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy.

The body of chef Recaldo Thomas was the first to be recovered , on Monday. His death was confirmed by his family.

Friends of Thomas, best known as “Rick,” paid tribute to him on Thursday at a favorite bar in the Caribbean Island of Antigua. Cooking for Lynch was supposed to be one of Thomas' last jobs before retiring, his cousin, David Isaac, told the AP.

Divers have struggled to find the bodies in the yacht’s hull on the seabed 50 meters (164 feet) underwater.

“We would need a crystal ball to know when we'll be able to find the next body," said Luca Cari, spokesperson for the fire rescue service.

“It's very difficult to move inside the wreckage. Moving just one meter can take up to 24 hours,” Cari said.

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Mike Lynch yacht sinking latest: Bayesian captain to be interrogated again by prosecutors in manslaughter probe

Italian prosecutors are investigating captain james cutfield over deaths of british tech tycoon, daughter hannah and five others, his lawyer has confirmed, article bookmarked.

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The captain of the Bayesian is facing further questioning from prosecutors on Tuesday after he was placed under investigation for possible manslaughter and shipwreck, according to his lawyer.

New Zealander James Cutfield is being investigated after the superyacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily last Monday, his lawyer Aldo Mordiglia confirmed on Monday.

Magistrates spoke to Mr Cutfield on Sunday for the second time in a week, the Italian daily la Repubblica reported, questioning him for more than two hours.

Mr Mordiglia said his 51-year-old client faced further questioning from prosecutors on Tuesday.

Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow.

Another of Mr Cutfield’s lawyer, Giovanni Rizzuti, told the Guardian on Monday that his client was “deeply affected by this ordeal”.

It comes amid tributes for the owner of the British-flagged vessel Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah Lynch, Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer , his wife Judith Bloomer , Clifford Chance lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, who all died in the disaster.

Bayesian captain ‘deeply affected’ by ordeal

James Cutfield, 51, the captain of the tragic Bayesian, faces further questioning from prosecutors in Italy today after he was placed under investigation for possible manslaughter and shipwreck.

One of his lawyers, Giovanni Rizzuti, told the Guardian on Monday: “Our client is deeply affected by this ordeal.”

“We are currently assessing, with other legal representatives, the defence strategy and examining the technical aspects of the case.”

What are investigators focusing on?

Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed an investigation has been launched on Saturday.

He said his team will consider each possible element of responsibility, including those of the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision, and the yacht’s manufacturer.

The Bayesian, a 184ft (56m) British-flagged luxury yacht, went down near the Mediterranean island in southern Italy last Monday.

Investigators are focusing on how a vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailing boat remained largely unscathed.

Prosecutors said the event was “extremely rapid” and could have been a “downburst” - a localised, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly upon hitting the ground.

The crew were saved, apart from the chef, while six passengers were trapped in the hull.

Bayesian captain facing further questioning from prosecutors on Tuesday

Prosecutors in Italy continue to investigate the captain of a superyacht that sank during a storm off Sicily last week.

James Cutfield, the 51-year-old New Zealand national who was captain of the Bayesian, was among 15 survivors of the August 19 sinking that killed British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah and five others.

Mr Cutfield is being investigated for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck, said lawyer Aldo Mordiglia, one of two attorneys appointed for the captain’s defence.

Mr Mordiglia said Mr Cutfield, who already has been questioned, would be questioned again by prosecutors on Tuesday. He declined to discuss the strategy for the defence.

Under Italian law, being under investigation does not imply guilt and does not necessarily lead to criminal charges.

On Saturday, chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed an investigation has been launched.

New York lawyer who died in yacht disaster wrote haunting LinkedIn post weeks before

A lawyer who died after a yacht sank off the coast of Sicily wrote a haunting post on LinkedIn two months before he joined the doomed voyage.

In one of his only posts on the site, Christopher Morvillo, 59, thanked his legal team after they helped British tech tycoon Mike Lynch win a fraud trial and discussed living “happily ever after.”

Graig Graziosi and Mike Bedigan report:

NYC lawyer who died in yacht disaster wrote haunting LinkedIn post weeks before

Christopher Morvillo formerly worked as a prosecutor investigating the September 11 terror attacks

What is a downburst?

Officials said the superyacht had been hit by a downburst and the Italian officials said they would be looking at how it could affect one vehicle and not other nearby vessels, according to the translation of the conference.

A downburst is an intense burst of wind at ground level emenating from the strong downdraft of a thunderstorm; the wind often blows radially from a point source, as opposed to the rotating winds associated with a tornado.

Downbursts usually last just a few minutes, and can be particularly dangerous for aviation.

They have been blamed for a number of air crashes over the years, although the risk tends to be well forecast by meteorologists allowing pilots to avoid them.

Ex-court appointed guard says Mike Lynch ‘became more like a family’

A court-appointed armed guard, tasked with ensuring Mike Lynch did not abscond while facing fraud charges, has paid tribute to the tech mogul, saying the security team “became less of a detail and more like a family”.

Rolo Igno also described “the memory of a beautiful soul” in Mr Lynch’s daughter Hannah.

Mr Igno said he had the “privilege” of spending “almost every waking moment” with Mr Lynch while he was in custody in San Francisco, describing the detail as unlike any other he had ever worked and one that was “life changing”.

“As an executive protection agent, the number one rule is simple, don’t ever get close to the principal,” he said.

“They aren’t your friends, they’re a client and the relationship is strictly professional. But with Mike, that didn’t fly with him and for me that rule quickly dissolved.”

Final moments of seven who died in Bayesian tragedy revealed by fire service boss

Why was mike lynch’s yacht named the bayesian.

Autonomy, the software firm which Mike Lynch sold in a £8.64bn deal in 2011, was a pioneer of business data analysis, using machine learning and what Mr Lynch called “adaptive pattern recognition”.

It used a statistical method called “Bayesian inference” at the heart of its software, devised by the 18th-century mathematician Thomas Bayes.

The yacht’s name, Bayesian , harks to the same model that was at the heart of Autonomy’s – and Mr Lynch’s – success.

How did Mike Lynch make his money?

Once dubbed the “British Bill Gates”, Mike Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares were valued at £852m in 2023 by the Sunday Times Rich List.

The 59-year-old tech tycoon is known for founding Invoke Capital and Autonomy Corporation and had been in the headlines after he was cleared of charges in a high-profile fraud case.

My colleague Barney Davis has more details:

Mike Lynch net worth: How the billionaire made his money

Mike Lynch was frequently described as the Bill Gates of Britain for founding Autonomy – one of the biggest software firms on the planet

Watch: Captain details Bayesian sinking 'within two minutes' after rescuing survivors

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Trying to sink an unsinkable boat

• Chris Beeson
• July 2, 2015

It’s every sailor’s nightmare: holed and taking on water. For Chris Beeson, the unsinkable Etap turned this sinking feeling into an unusual spa session

The Etap 21i sailing with her normal freeboard, before we opened the seacocks and attempted to scuttle her Credit: Lester McCarthy/YM

I thought it would feel stranger than it did, wading knee-deep through a flooded boat. While we were being towed out to the Needles, where we’d planned to founder, I was half expecting some mental switch to trip as the water started gushing in, overwhelming me with primal panic. Corporal Jones from Dad’s Navy, I thought. In the event, it was no more alarming than wallowing in a strangely shaped bath with several other men. Scary enough, but some way short of a crisis.

The bunk locker lids were barely awash when the water ingress stopped

The drama was limited first by the fact that we weren’t allowed to whack gaping holes below the waterline. The new owners of this boat, Grahame and Janine Mason, were understandably reticent about that. They did, however, kindly allow us to open the seacocks in an attempt to send their pride and joy to the bottom. And they did, sensibly, specify that we did so before they took delivery. The UK West Country broker of this yacht, Yachts of Dartmouth, set the wheels in motion.

We were towed out to the Needles by the SeaStart RIB. SeaStart was there to act as a photo-boat but aboard the Etap, I felt a good deal more comfortable knowing that there was something powerful, inflatable and fast nearby should anything go wrong. Once in position – and with nobody having said: ‘Actually, this is a daft idea. Let’s go back, eh?’ – we opened the seacocks.

We expected the seacocks to gush, but they merely dribbled

I was expecting something akin to ‘Old Faithful’ to erupt from the valve, bringing chaos with it. I had imagined the engine room scene from Noel Coward and David Lean’s wartime classic In Which We Serve . The reality was, frankly, disappointing, more like someone spilling a glass of water. This was the second drama limitation. When boats are holed and sinking, the hole is much larger, usually hidden behind joinery, and the ingress much faster.

It took a good 15-20 minutes for the flares canister to start bobbing about

Having established that we needed to slow to a stop to get any decent ingress, the flooding began. The boat took a while to fill up, even with both the sink and the larger heads seacocks open. It was a good 15-20 minutes before the flare canister started bobbing around. Within half an hour the lids of the bunk lockers began to open and shut with water pressure as the boat rolled in a gentle swell. After 45 minutes, the seacocks were no longer letting water in. We were as low as we could go.

The boat took a long time to fill up – even with all three seacocks open

We had a quick bash at sailing but the lack of wind prevented us finding out how her performance was affected by the extra load. Gert, the Etap representative onboard, has done this a few times, most notably in a 24ft Etap, crossing the Channel twice in a day with the boat flooded. He estimated that flooding slows the boat down by 1 knot, not bad considering he reefs to reduce strain on the rig.

Even flooded to the waterline, there was still plenty of freeboard thanks to the closed-cell foam that fills many of her cavities

Once we had all the photos we needed and the novelty of sinking had worn off, the seacocks were closed and the bailing began. We used a 14-litre bucket, scooping on average 8-10 litres each time. The last 30 buckets, filled using a bailer, were brim-full. We emptied 260 buckets in 40 minutes then mopped up the remainder with a sponge. A quick, approximate calculation suggests there were over 2,000 litres of water inside.

A rough calculation of the number of buckets we bailed suggested we took on 2,000 litres of water

Other than the fact that Etap does indeed make unsinkable boats, I’m not sure what we learned. I was hoping to vaccinate myself to the shock of a boat flooding so that, should the nightmare ever strike, I’ll be clearer headed. As it turned out, the height of the drama was a slightly damp mobile phone.

Tech Specs -Etap 21 i (Hull no. 549)

LOA: 6.56m (21ft 6in)

LWL: 6.10m (20ft)

Beam: 2.49m (8ft 2in)

Draught: tandem keel: 0.7m (2ft 4in); fin keel: 1.3m (4ft 3in)

Displacement: tandem keel: 1,230kg (2,712lb); fin keel: 1,180kg (2,601lb)

Ballast: tandem keel: 350kg (771lb); fin keel: 300kg (661lb)

Sail area: 23.9m 2 (258sq ft)

RCD Category: B/C

Price: £30,000 (new, in 2007)

Website: www.etapyachting.com

BUILDING THE UNSINKABLE

Spaces between inner and outer skins of hull and deck are packed with closed-cell polyurethane foam

Etap is the only builder of unsinkable yachts and is currently (2007) seeking a Lloyds certificate to that effect. Sadler Yachts used to have a claim to this title before it ceased production but, according to the only standard of unsinkability (that of the French Merchant Marine), unsinkability means that freeboard is reduced by less than 3% of LOA when flooded. Sadlers, though they wouldn’t actually sink, would flood close to deck level.

‘Unsinkable’ means freeboard is reduced by less than 3 per cent of LOA when flooded

The secret lies in the construction. The whole Etap range, from 21-46ft, uses double-skinned hulls and decks. The spaces between the two skins, and several other pockets throughout the hull and deck, are packed with closed-cell polyurethane foam.

This Etap 38i struck a reef and stuck fast while sailing in the Red Sea

Even if the hull is breached, only the foam damaged by the impact will absorb water. The rest of it, even when exposed to water rather than protected by GRP, has a maximum moisture absorption of 2% after 24 hours.

She was hauled off the reef and remained afloat, though flooded, as she was towed to safety

The result is an unsinkable boat, but there are other benefits. The boat is much stiffer as a result. Also, the foam acts as excellent insulation. It’s warmer below in winter and cooler below in summer. You can leave bedding on an Etap all winter and it will be condensation-free when you return in spring.

Of course, the extra design, materials and labour that go into building an Etap make this a fairly expensive 21-footer but, it you want to, you can buy peace of mind.

DISASTER-PROOFING

Watertight bulkheads

All new ocean racing yachts are fitted with watertight bulkheads. These are sealed, internal bulkheads with a lockable, watertight hatch and as few cable ducts as possible placed as high as possible. To be effective, at least two are required, dividing the boat into roughly equal volumes so that, should one area flood, there is sufficient volume left unflooded to maintain buoyancy. It’s rare for cruising owners to request watertight bulkheads but the more expensive boatbuilders can fit them during build.

Flotation bags

This is a well-established, relatively inexpensive and very effective method of creating buoyancy. These durable bags are easy to store when deflated and can be inflated with carbon dioxide from a SCUBA tank and secured either to anchor points inside the hull or to slings beneath the hull using webbing strops attached to the bags. As GRP supports 25% of its own weight in seawater, you need enough bags to support at least 75% of the boat’s displacement.

PUMPING POWER

A good engine-driven bilge pump will shift about 40 gallons per minute under ideal conditions. The average hand-operated one will only pump half that quantity.

Bilge pump ratings in the manufacturers’ claims are usually for 60 pumps per minute against no resistance, and with no need to lift the water (to a particular height above sea level) before discharging it. A head of 7ft will halve the output.

Any length of piping will rapidly reduce the efficiency of the pump, as length of pipe plays an important role in generating the resistance against which the pump is working.

Just to depress you further, you cannot pump faster than the time it takes the pump to fill and empty. Otherwise the pump loses efficiency. The classic ‘frightened man with a two-gallon bucket’ will shift about 20 gallons a minute. That involves lifting and throwing 20lbs of water every six seconds.

GOING DOWN: FACTS AND FIGURES

The flow of water through a hole is directly proportional to the fourth power of the radius of the hole. A two-inch hole will let in four times as much water as a one-inch hole.

If the hole letting in the water is bigger than the smallest part of the bilge pump pipework, you will surely sink unless you can make the hole smaller.

At a depth of three feet, a hole just one inch in diameter is estimated to pass 34 gallons a minute. Over an hour, that amounts to 2,040 gallons.

• (207) 742-7614
• [email protected]

You need a dinghy; why not one that can save your life?

You’re free to have fun on the water when you, your family, and your crew are safe. Portland Pudgy, Inc has re-imagined the dinghy in the context of safety at sea, and come up with something really new. A rugged, unsinkable dinghy you can row, motor, sail , and even use as a lifeboat. The Portland Pudgy safety dinghy makes boating even more fun, by making it safer.

The sail kit makes your Portland Pudgy a fun, safe sailing dinghy. The stability and buoyancy designed into the Portland Pudgy make it safe and sea-friendly as a recreational sailing dinghy for the whole family. The Pudgy takes surprisingly rugged seas and wind for a boat its size…

The Portland Pudgy is a rugged, unsinkable self-rescue boat, even without the inflatable exposure canopy and other survival gear. With the canopy and sail, the Portland Pudgy is a dynamic lifeboat. Unlike inflatable life rafts, the Pudgy can’t deflate, and you can sail, row, or motor to safety…

What is the Portland Pudgy safety dinghy?

The Portland Pudgy is a multifunction boat that was designed as a yacht tender and unsinkable, dynamic lifeboat for blue water sailors that can be sailed to safety. The resulting stability, buoyancy, ruggedness, roominess, and “unsinkability” designed into the Portland Pudgy make it unparalleled as an everyday tender, a safe and sea-friendly sailing dinghy, and a great all-around rowboat/motorboat. The Pudgy is a self-contained unit: all accessories, including the oars, sail kit, and exposure canopy, stow within the storage space in double hull of the boat with room to spare.

Recreational Small Boat for Sailing, Fishing, Hunting, Diving

Unlike inflatable boats, the Portland Pudgy safety dinghy is a joy to row. It can be rigged out as a fun sailing dinghy. It’s a safe and fun recreational sailing dinghy for the whole family. It’s stable and difficult to capsize, but if you manage to, it’s very easy to right, and comes up dry. No need to wait for rescue (as with some recreational sailing dinghies, like the Opti). The entire sail kit stows neatly out of the way in the interior of the double hull (rudder and leeboards under seats). Because the Portland Pudgy safety dinghy is so stable, rugged, and tracks so well when rowed or motored, it’s also a great fishing boat or duck hunting boat, and a great platform for nature photography and diving. See Sailing Dinghy.

Self-Contained Unit

All of the accessories, oars, sail kit (including telescoping mast and boom), inflatable exposure canopy, sea anchor, ditch bag, provisions, and more, can be stowed within the boat via the five watertight hatches.  This is very convenient in your everyday dinghy or sailing dink.  It’s an extremely important safety feature of the Portland Pudgy lifeboat. All of your equipment is there in an emergency.

Dynamic Lifeboat

The Portland Pudgy safety dinghy is a self-rescue boat, even without the optional inflatable exposure canopy and other survival gear. With the exposure canopy, sea anchor, and sail kit, the Portland Pudgy is an unsinkable, dynamic lifeboat. Unlike inflatable life rafts, the Pudgy cannot deflate, and you can sail, row, or motor this rugged self-rescue boat to shipping lanes or land.

Everyday Yacht Tender, Rowboat, Motorboat, Rugged Workboat

The Portland Pudgy safety dinghy is the safest, most rugged yacht tender on the market to row, motor, tow and carry. It tracks perfectly and moves along nicely with a small motor. The Pudgy is extremely buoyant and has huge carrying capacity, both in the roomy cockpit and inside the storage compartments in the double hull. The Portland Pudgy (7′ 8″, 128 lb., USCG-approved as a rowboat and motorboat for 4 people) is designed and manufactured (in the USA) to be an exceptionally rugged, stable, unsinkable boat. Its pram shape allows it to fit on the deck of many cruising sailboats. This small boat is so stable you can stand up and walk around in it. The Portland Pudgy safety dinghy has all the benefits of inflatable boats and RIBs (rigid inflatable boats), without the risk of deflation. There is no need for an unsightly, expensive, and deflation-prone RID kit (“dinghy dogs”) with the Pudgy: it’s an unsinkable boat, with built-in buoyancy. See Yacht Tender/Dinghy.

Live-aboards  Teresa Carey and Ben Erickson Carey  sent us this wonderful video about their Portland Pudgy. Lots of great sailing shots.  Deliberately flipping the Pudgy (:33) and then easily righting it (2:00). Inflating the exposure canopy using the alternative method (hand pump) and using it as a dodger (1:15). Sleeping in the Pudgy. Lots of shots that show how stable and roomy it is. And lots just showing what a fun little boat it is.

Testimonials

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45' CENTER CONSOLE

The largest unsinkable boat of its kind, Grady-White sets the standard in luxury fishing boats with this flagship 45-foot center console! The Canyon 456 is an incredibly spacious, technically sophisticated boat built on Grady’s trademark SeaV² ® hull, ranked highest in performance and ride in every J.D. Power and Associates Marine Study ever done. This makes it the driest, softest riding center console on the market. One of the world’s largest center console boats, the 456 is crafted with Grady’s exceptional attention to detail, more richly appointed than other big outboard sportfishing boats and the only one to include the legendary company that stands behind it.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photo gallery.

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running at sunset

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat starboard side

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running with city in background

Grady-White Canyon 456 Center Console Boat Running

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console running with palm trees in background

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat sea command center helm

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat helm layout

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat cockpit

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat console interior facing aft

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat forward seating with tables

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console running starboard

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat cruising

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running on misty calm water

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing offshore

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running at sunrise

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing offshore in blue water

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running fast

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat hooked up

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running view of stern

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat running carving a turn

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat Sea Command Center seating

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat grilling

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat bow seating with tables

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat bow seating with speakers and tables

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat forward lounge seat

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat windshield

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat bow shade

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat sea command center captain's chairs

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat aft facing sea command seating

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat t-top with color

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat console interior

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat cabin berth

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat integrated rod storage slides

Alt Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat marine safe with touchpad entry

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat galley

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat cabin interior rod storage

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat galley and lower storage

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat galley and upper storage

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat head

Grady-White Canyon 456 45-foot center console fishing boat head rod storage

features & options

Performance, virtual tour, canyon 456 main specifications, beam amidships, 14' (4.27 m), center line length w/o engines, 45' (13.72 m), bridge clearance, 10'5" (3.18 m), cockpit depth, 28" (0.71 m), 30" (0.76 m), transom deadrise, 21 degrees (seav 2® progression), 1800 (1342 kw), fuel capacity - standard, 616 gal. (2,332 l), weight w/o engines, 24,500 lb. (11,113 kg), canyon 456 features & options.

If your PDF does not download, click here.

Select camera icons where available to view feature photos

Denotes feature as trademarked, exclusive, patented, or patent pending

Automatic bilge pumps (2) (total 4,000 GPH) (15,142 LPH)

Basic flotation

Bow grab rails - low profile 316 grade stainless steel

Cockpit stainless steel toe rails

Composite stringer system & transom - water impervious

Fire extinguisher holder

Nonskid fiberglass liner

Self-bailing cockpit w/high-volume scupper system

Stainless steel through-hull fittings

Yamaha Siren Marine Vessel Monitoring System

Cockpit & Deck

100% hand laid SeaV² hull & deck

Anchor windlass w/rode, line, and remote switches at helm & windlass

Batteries (10) w/battery select switches (5) & charger system (3)

Bow thruster

Casting platform

Cleats - flush mount (pull up)

Cockpit bolsters

Cockpit lights - blue LED

Cockpit side doors - port & starboard w/boarding ladder

Deck hardware - 316-grade stainless steel through-bolted

Dockside power w/galvanic isolator & 35' Glendinning retractable shore power cord

Drink holders - stainless steel (12)

Easy up bow shade (ivory mesh)

Electric reel outlets (2)

Electrical system management - CZone® AC & DC digital switching

Engine flush system - Reverso® electronic self-cycling

Factory engine pre-rigging

Fender cleats - Phender Pro™ quick-release

Fish box - 43-qt. (41 l) port bow insulated fish box w/ob drain

Fish box - 123-qt. (116 l) port bow insulated fish box w/ob drain

Fish box - 239-qt. (226 l) starboard bow insulated fish box w/ob drain

Fish box - 459-qt. (434 l) aft insulated refrigerator/freezer fish box w/lights, digitally controlled thermostat & ob drain

Forward bolsters

Fuel capacity - 616-gallons (2,332 l) (2 - 308 gal. tanks)

Generator - 12kW diesel, 30-gallon (114 l) fuel capacity

International lighting

Lighting - underwater blue LED (3)

Livewells - port & starboard aft transom 35-gallon (132 l) insulated raw water livewells w/lights, full column distribution inlets & ob drains (1500 GPH) (5678 LPH)

Rod holders - cockpit (6), bow (4)

Rod storage - 2 lockable rod pods, holds 2 rods each (4)

Rod storage racks - horizontal (6)

Rubrail - high density PVC w/stainless steel insert

Seating - 60" foldaway aft bench seat w/cushion

Seating - port & starboard seating w/multi-position, forward & aft facing foldaway backrests (2)

Stabilizer - Seakeeper® 6 gyroscopic stabilization system

Stereo - Deluxe stereo system w/waterproof touch screen display, AM/FM tuner, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth® connectivity & remote unit; speakers w/LED lights - bow (2), T-top (4); subwoofers - cockpit (2)

Stern eyes - 316 grade stainless steel

Storage - forward anchor locker w/rode storage

Tables - electromechanically adjustable fiberglass bow tables (2)

Trim control - ZipWake® auto-leveling dynamic trim system

Washdown - cockpit freshwater shower (recessed) - aft cockpit w/20' Glendinning retractable hose w/hot & cold mixer

Washdown - cockpit freshwater shower (recessed) - forward w/20' Glendinning retractable hose

Washdown - pressurized raw water

Water heater - 11-gallon (42 l) (includes hot water cockpit shower)

Water reservoir - raw water sea chest

Water tank - 80-gallon (303 l) freshwater

Sea Command Center

Accessory outlet - 5V duplex USB port

Accessory outlet - 12V

Accessory outlet - 110V duplex

Air conditioning - 16,000 BTU w/outlets at helm (4) & aft seats (3)

Cockpit galley starboard w/grill, stainless steel refrigerator & trash compartment

Cooler - 53-qt. (50 l) insulated box w/ob drain (under starboard aft seat)

Drink holders - stainless steel at helm (4) & aft seats (2)

Flush mount electronics area

Footrest - molded console footrest

Footrests - fold down (4)

Lean bar grab rails (4)

Phone charger (wireless) - helm mounted

Rigging station - port freshwater sink w/up-down swivel faucet & pull-out spray handle, tackle & bulk storage

Seating - aft facing deluxe cushioned seats (3) w/flip-up bolster center & electromechanical footrest/step

Seating - electrically adjustable deluxe contoured helm captain's chairs w/flip-up bolsters & fold-down armrests (4)

Seating - molded forward lounge seat w/arm rests & drink holders (4)

Steering - Helm Master® EX w/Full Maneuverability

Steering wheel - 316 grade stainless steel Edson Wheel w/knob

Storage - portside 3-drawer stainless steel units (2)

Storage - tackle storage under aft-facing center seat w/trays (6) & bulk storage drawers (2)

T-top - fiberglass AV²® enclosure w/painted aluminum frame, electrically sliding sunroof w/screen & shade, storage net, LED spreader lights (3), tri-colored (red, blue, white) LED recessed lights (6), aft mounted rod holders (8), outrigger plates, SureShade® electrically retractable shade w/Sunbrella® canvas (oyster)

Windshield - wraparound glass integrated w/T-top w/electrically sliding port & starboard side vents

Windshield wiper w/washer - freshwater

Console Interior

Accessory outlet - 5V duplex USB port (2)

Accessory outlet - 110V duplex (2)

Air conditioning - 12,000 BTU w/outlets at console (3) & head (1)

Berth - forward convertible vee berth

Carbon monoxide monitor

Door - lockable sliding door w/separate screen door

Drink holders - stainless steel (4)

Forward hatch - low profile acrylic hatch w/retractable screen shade

Galley - portside galley w/Corian® countertop, stainless steel microwave drawer & stainless steel drawers (3)

Galley - starboard galley w/stainless steel sink, Corian® countertop & stove cooktop

Head - lockable enclosed ventilated head area w/lighting, sink, Corian® countertop, shower w/teak grate, mirror, storage cabinet, vertical rod storage (4) & VacuFlush® marine head w/freshwater supply, 20-gallon (76 l) holding tank, overboard discharge & deck pump out

Lighting - dimmable indirect lighting throughout

Refrigerator - stainless steel

Rod storage - retractable vertical storage rack under port countertop (4)

Rod storage - port & starboard forward berth sapele Integrated Rod Storage Slides™ (4)

Stereo - Deluxe stereo system w/waterproof touch screen display, AM/FM tuner, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth® connectivity & remote unit; speakers (2) & subwoofer

Storage - marine safe w/touchpad entry

Storage - port & starboard lighted glass shelves

Storage - port cedar-lined closet

Storage - starboard stainless steel drawers (3)

Storage - underberth compartments (3)

Teak wood sole

Windows - port & starboard tinted frameless glass windows w/blinds

Table - solid sapele dinette table w/teak & brushed aluminum inlays & electromechanically adjustable stainless steel base (seats 4)

TV - 32" LED flat screen w/HDMI inlet

CE certification package (European Conformity)

Hull color - Celestial Blue, Coastal Fog, Ocean Mist, or Sea Glass gelcoat

International AC electrical conversion - 220V (50Hz)

Outrigger kit - 22-ft. (6.7m) GEMLUX® carbon fiber outriggers w/polished stainless steel base

T-top color - underside of T-top (requires matching gelcoat color option)

Canvas Options

T-top Clear2Sea™ side wings & helm enclosure (ivory)

Canyon 456 Performance Data

XTO Offshore® 450

Top Speed : 58.0 MPH @ 6000 RPM

Optimum Cruise : 30.1 MPH @ 3500 RPM

GPH at Optimum Cruise : 44.0

MPG at Optimum Cruise : 0.68

CLASSIC WHITE

Engine Size

16 3/8 x 21 XTO OS

Weight as Tested

31650 lb. (including persons, fuel, water, gear, engines & accessories)

Bottom Paint

Optimum Cruise

30.1 MPH @ 3500 RPM

Canyon 456 Overhead

Select the hotspots below to learn more about the Canyon 456 features.

Canyon 456 Virtual Tour

Salt Water Fishing University on the Canyon 456 !

Grady-White's Canyon 456

Fishing on the Canyon 456

Canyon 456 with Custom Tower

Canyon 456 on the water

Power & Motoryacht on the 456

FishTalk on the 456

Boating Magazine on the 456

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Sailing yachts like Mike Lynch’s are ‘unsinkable’, claims CEO of company that builds them

21 August 2024, 22:57

By Henry Moore

Sailing yachts like the one belonging to Mike Lynch are “unsinkable”, according to the company that builds them.

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Giovanni Costantino, the CEO of The Italian Sea Group, rejected claims there were design flaws in the Bayesian superyacht, which tragically sunk off the coast of Sicily on Monday.

This comes after rescue teams discovered five bodies in the wreckage of the ship, as they continue to hunt for tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter.

Read more: Five bodies found in hunt for superyacht passengers with one still missing, as search ends for the day

"Being the manufacturer of Perini [boats], I know very well how the boats have always been designed and built," Costantino said.

"And as Perini is a sailing ship... sailing ships are renowned to be the safest ever," he told Sky News.

He claims the yachts’ design makes the model "unsinkable bodies".

Five bodies, including a "heavily built man", were found on Wednesday afternoon in the search for the six missing passengers.

Six people were marked as missing after the Bayesian sank off the coast in Sicily early on Monday morning.

They were: British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, banker Jonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy Bloomer, lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

Divers have been smashing their way into the wreckage in a bid to find them. Italian officials confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that five bodies had been found, without naming them. Four have been brought back to shore.

It means that six of 22 people who were onboard the yacht are confirmed to have died, after the body of chef Recaldo Thomas was found earlier.

Several media outlets have reported that Mr Lynch and Hannah have been identified among the people found, but this has not been confirmed by Italian authorities.

Sicily civil protection director-general Salvo Cocina said: "On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and express our condolences to them at this difficult time."

The captain is recovering in hospital, and spoke for the first time since the wreck earlier this week.

Captain James Cutfield, 51, is a "well-respected" sailor and has worked on boats since he was a teen, his brother said.

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Sunken Russian warship Moskva: What do we know?

Russia's flagship Black Sea missile cruiser, the Moskva, has sunk after being "seriously damaged".

That is as far as the warring sides may agree on - not what caused the sinking.

The Russian defence ministry said ammunition onboard exploded in an unexplained fire and the ship tipped over while being towed back to port.

Ukraine claims it struck the vessel with its Neptune missiles. Unnamed US officials have told US media they believe the Ukrainian version.

The 510-crew warship had led Russia's naval assault on Ukraine, which made it an important symbolic and military target.

Earlier in the conflict the Moskva gained notoriety after calling on Ukrainian border troops defending Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender - to which they memorably radioed a message of refusal which loosely translates as "go to hell" .

Unexplained fire or a missile attack?

Prior to the sinking, Russia's defence ministry issued a statement saying "the vessel is seriously damaged. The entire crew have been evacuated".

Naval officials said they were towing the warship back to port.

But a later statement the same day announced that on its journey back to port the ship "lost its balance".

"Given the choppy seas, the vessel sank," it said.

Moscow again blamed the blast on an unexplained fire, making no mention of any missile strike.

But Ukraine says it is responsible for an attack on the cruiser, which it claims it targeted with recently-introduced Ukrainian-made missiles.

In a Facebook post before the ship sank, Ukrainian officials said Russian rescue efforts were being hampered by ammunition exploding on board and bad weather.

On Friday, US officials said two Ukrainian Neptune missiles had struck the vessel, killing an unknown number of sailors.

The BBC has not been able to verify the claims.

Billowing black smoke

Dramatic pictures and a credible video appearing to show the Russian warship listing heavily and billowing smoke have since appeared.

Military experts told the BBC the footage most likely showed the Moskva cruiser and was probably recorded on 14 April.

The damage that can be seen in the footage is consistent with the type that a Neptune-style missile attack would inflict , they agreed.

Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who previously commanded a Royal Navy destroyer, said that after looking at the image he was left in "no doubt it's been hit by one or two missiles".

But other experts said the footage didn't provide enough proof to definitively rule out another explanation not involving a missile strike.

Reported casualties

Russia has not admitted any casualties. On Saturday the Russian defence ministry published footage showing what it described as the crew of the Moskva, on parade in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.

The commander-in-chief of the Russian navy said the officers and crew would "continue their service".

The video showing around 100 sailors is the only evidence that's been offered of any survivors from the 510-crew warship.

The history of the Moskva cruiser

Originally built in Ukraine in the Soviet-era, the vessel entered service in the early 1980s according to Russian media.

The missile cruiser was previously deployed by Moscow in the Syria conflict where it supplied Russian forces in the country with naval protection.

It carried over a dozen Vulkan anti-ship missiles and an array of anti-submarine and mine-torpedo weapons, the reports said.

The Moskva is the second major Russian ship known to have been destroyed since the invasion began.

What defences did the Moskva have?

The Slava-class cruiser was the third largest vessel in Russia's active fleet and one of its most heavily defended assets, naval expert Jonathan Bentham from the International Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC.

The cruiser was equipped with a triple-tiered air defence system that if operating properly should have made it very hard to hit.

In addition to medium- and short-range defences, it could engage six short-range close-in weapon systems (CIWS) as a last resort.

"The CIWS system can fire 5,000 rounds in a minute, essentially creating a wall of flak around the cruiser, its last line of defence," Mr Bentham said.

If the strike is proven to have come from a missile it "raises questions over the capabilities of the modernisation of the Russian surface fleet: whether it had enough ammunition, whether it had engineering issues".

Neptune missiles

Kyiv military officials say they struck the Moskva with a Ukrainian-made Neptune missile.

The cruise missile system was designed by Ukrainian military engineers in response to the growing naval threat posed by Russia in the Black Sea, following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

According to the Kyiv Post , the Ukrainian navy only received its first delivery of the 300km-range (186 miles) Neptune missiles in March last year.

Since the invasion began Ukraine has received an influx of military aid from Western allies, including £100m worth of anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles that the UK announced it would be sending last week .

The Russian military has been dominant in the Black Sea since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and has used its presence there to launch and supply the invasion.

Its Black Sea fleet has supported the war with the capacity to launch cruise missiles anywhere in Ukraine, and has been important in supporting Russian attempts to seize Mariupol.

Snake Island

"The Moskva had been a thorn in the side of the Ukrainians since the beginning of this conflict," Michael Petersen, of the Russia Maritime Studies Institute, told the BBC.

In the early days of Russia's invasion, the Moskva made global headlines after it ordered a group of Ukrainian soldiers on an outpost in the Black Sea to surrender.

When the troops defiantly refused in a radio message, it was initially believed that the border troops had been killed. However, in fact they had been taken captive.

The soldiers were eventually released as part of a prisoner swap with Russia in late March and their commander was honoured with a medal by the Ukrainian military.

The tale of their bravery became such a boost to Ukraine's morale that that the country's postal service commemorated their encounter on Snake Island with a special illustrated stamp.

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