Diving teams investigating the wreck of a superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily have discovered the bodies of five passengers and are now searching for one more person, as questions intensify regarding the reasons for the vessel’s rapid sinking. A nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Rescue teams arrived on Wednesday at the port of Porticello with three body bags from rescue vessels. Salvatore Cocina, head of Sicily’s civil protection agency (Protezione Civile Siciliana), reported that two additional bodies had also been found in the wreck. Among the deceased are the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, whose bodies were discovered in one of the yacht’s cabins, between two mattresses, as reported by The Telegraph.
The superyacht, named Bayesian, sank during a storm early Monday while anchored about one kilometer off the coast. Official sources believe the vessel was hit by a waterspout, a tornado-like phenomenon over water, leading to its swift sinking. Fifteen people escaped in a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby sailboat. One body had previously been recovered – that of the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, who was originally from Antigua.
Lynch, 59, was one of the UK’s most notable tech entrepreneurs and had invited friends to celebrate his recent acquittal in a fraud case in the United States onboard the yacht. Besides Lynch and his daughter, the other unidentified victims include Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International; as well as Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
The yacht now lies on its side on the seabed, 50 meters (approximately 164 feet) below the surface – a depth that requires special precautions, complicating rescue efforts. Divers can only stay inside the vessel for 8 to 10 minutes at a time before they must resurface.
An investigative task force from the prosecutor’s office in Termini Imerese has promptly opened a criminal investigation following the tragedy, although no formal suspects have been publicly identified as of yet. There are many questions regarding what caused the superyacht, built in 2008 by the Italian shipyard Perini Navi, to sink so quickly while the nearby Sir Robert Baden Powell sailboat remained largely unscathed and was able to rescue the 15 survivors.
Experts are interested in understanding how the keel was positioned, as on a large sailboat like Bayesian, it may have been retracted to allow access to shallower ports, or whether an unusual waterspout struck the ship and simply tipped it over. “There is much uncertainty about whether it had a lifting keel and whether it may have been up,” said Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a fellow at the Royal Institute of Naval Architects and editor of the Journal of Sailing Technology.
“But if it did have one, it would reduce the vessel’s stability, making it easier for it to capsize,” he added in an interview. Yachts like Bayesian are also required to have watertight compartments, specifically designed to prevent rapid, catastrophic sinking even when parts are filled with water. “For a ship to sink, especially so quickly, water must be taken on very quickly, but also at several points along the length of the vessel,” Souppez explained.