Divers and an underwater drone have been deployed in the search for six missing individuals, including prominent UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, following the sinking of a luxury superyacht off the coast of Sicily. Also among the missing are Jonathan Bloomer, chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy.
The 56-meter (185-foot) British-flagged yacht, named Bayesian, was anchored with 10 crew members and 12 passengers aboard when it was reportedly struck by a waterspout—a powerful mini-tornado—early on Monday morning. The sudden and violent storm caused the yacht to sink rapidly.
Rescue teams have so far managed to save 15 people, including a woman and her one-year-old child. Tragically, the body of one man, believed to be the yacht’s Antiguan-born chef, was recovered from the water.
The missing individuals were guests of Mike Lynch, who was celebrating his recent acquittal in a high-profile fraud case in the United States. Lynch, often compared to Bill Gates in Britain, was cleared in June of fraud and conspiracy charges related to Hewlett-Packard’s $11 billion acquisition of his company, Autonomy Corp.
The Bayesian now rests approximately 50 meters (164 feet) underwater, a challenging depth for rescue operations. Recovery teams are working in 12-minute shifts due to the complexity and danger of accessing the wreck. Divers have not yet been able to reach the below-deck cabins, where it is believed the missing six were sleeping at the time of the storm, due to furniture blocking the entry points.
Grainy footage captured by shore-based closed-circuit cameras and shared by the Giornale di Sicilia shows the yacht’s 75-meter (246-foot) mast, one of the tallest in the world, illuminated during the storm before disappearing beneath the waves within minutes.
The yacht’s captain survived the ordeal and is expected to be interviewed by prosecutors. Karsten Borner, captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a vessel that rescued 15 survivors, recounted the terrifying moment the Bayesian sank. “A moment later, she was gone,” Borner said, quoting the survivors who described the yacht being overwhelmed by the storm in just two minutes.
Efforts to locate and recover the missing continue, with specialized cave divers and a remote-controlled underwater vehicle working to gain access to the wreck. However, the search is complicated by the storm’s impact on the yacht’s interior, which has shifted, blocking access to certain areas.
Survivor Charlotte Golunski described a harrowing experience, nearly losing her grip on her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, in the turbulent water before managing to hold her above the waves until they were rescued by a lifeboat. Both Charlotte and Sofia were saved, along with the child’s father, James Emslie. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, also survived the incident. However, their daughter, Hannah Lynch, remains among the missing.
The Bayesian, a 2008 build by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, was renowned for its towering aluminum mast and had been available for charter. The search for the missing continues as authorities work to determine the full circumstances surrounding this tragic event.
