A tragic incident occurred as a young British head chef on a superyacht drowned in a French port after a night out with fellow crew members, according to details presented at an inquest. Flinn Sessions, a 22-year-old from Wimborne, Dorset, had been working on the Atlantico for two months when the yacht was docked at La Ciotat, near Marseille, on June 9, 2023.
During the inquest at Bournemouth Coroner’s Court, it was revealed that Flinn had been socializing with crew members and other yacht workers, visiting multiple bars and consuming alcohol before he fell from the quayside where the Atlantico was anchored. CCTV footage captured Flinn leaning against a bollard on the quayside in the early hours of the morning before falling into the water and swimming towards the back of the yacht.
Tragically, Flinn was discovered deceased in the water that morning, with post-mortem examinations in both France and the UK confirming that he had passed away due to drowning. The coroner, Brendan Allen, concluded that Flinn’s death was accidental, noting that he had consumed a significant amount of alcohol while socializing with friends and colleagues before falling into the water from the quayside upon returning to the Atlantico. The CCTV footage indicated that Flinn was alone at the time of the fall, showed no signs of ill health, and the incident was deemed unintentional.
The coroner recorded the conclusion that Flinn’s death was a result of an accident, stating that the evidence pointed to the incident being unintended, as Flinn was alone, not in poor health, and under the influence of alcohol at the time of the tragic event.