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Five bodies have now been found inside the sunken Bayesian superyacht as the search for the final missing passenger continues.
The boat sank in a severe storm in the early hours of Monday, with those missing including British billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
The corpses of four people, one of whom belonged to a “heavily-built man”, were recovered earlier on Wednesday. The head of Sicily’s civil protection agency Salvatore Cocina said that efforts to bring a fifth to shore were “ongoing”, while the whereabouts of the missing sixth person remains unknown.
Identities of the recovered bodies have not been confirmed by authorities, despite local and international media reporting some had been identified.
Fire crews have described the operation as “complex”, with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts, and debris hampering efforts to access the cabins.
One man, the boat’s chef Recaldo Thomas, was confirmed dead on Monday, while a further 15 people survived the disaster.
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Why did the superyacht Bayesian sink?
Hatches and doors left open overnight on the superyacht Bayesian may have caused it to sink in Italy, a sailing expert has said.
Sam Jefferson, editor of magazine Sailing Today, believes the vessel’s huge mast is also likely to have contributed to the deadly event.
It is believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout.
Weather records show temperatures reached around 33C the day before the sinking, which may have led to the vessel’s occupants wanting air to flow through while they slept.
Mr Jefferson told the PA news agency: “I would have said that the boat got hit very hard by the wind, it was pinned over on its side.
“I imagine all the doors were open because it was hot, so there were enough hatches and doors open that it filled with water very quickly and sank like that.
“The reason it got pinned over so hard was because the mast is huge. It acted almost like a sail. (It) pushed the boat hard over on its side. (The boat) filled with water before it could right.
“This is all speculation, but that’s the only logical explanation.”
Mr Jefferson added that such incidents are “incredibly rare”, describing the chances of a yacht being hit by a waterspout as “minuscule”.
The yacht’s aluminium mast measures 72 metres, making it one of the largest in the world among sailing yachts.
Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht which was near Bayesian, told news agency Reuters he witnessed the ship go “flat on the water, and then down”.
Salvo Cocina, of Sicily’s civil protection agency, said: “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Watch: Moment Bayesian yacht engulfed by storm
Bayesian was victim of ‘high impact’ weather-related incident, says expert
The Bayesian was the victim of a “high impact” weather-related incident, Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, a UK-based non-profit organisation that trains sea rescuers, has said.
“If it was a water spout, which it appears to be, it’s what I would class as like a black swan event,” he told Reuters, meaning a rare and unpredictable phenomenon.
Survivors recuperate at hotel complex in Porticello
Survivors have been recuperating at a hotel complex in Porticello.
Authorities have been gathering witness statements from them there.
The curious life of Mike Lynch – who believed dogs could read our minds
He was terrified that he would die in a US prison, not because he was guilty – he had spent £30m on legal fees arguing his innocence – but because it’s almost unheard of in the US to win a case against the US Justice Department. His chances of winning were put at 0.5 per cent. However, after 13 years of putting together detailed evidence to support his plea, he was acquitted and it felt like a miracle.
Once back in the UK, Lynch set about celebrating what he called his second life. Through tears, he told one interviewer how even the traffic in London seemed magical. “I’m just thinking this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” he said.
Jonathan Margolis writes:
Full story: Five bodies found inside wreck of sunken superyacht Bayesian off coast of Sicily
Only four of the five bodies found on Wednesday have so far been recovered, the head of Sicily’s civil protection agency Salvatore Cocina said on Wednesday evening, while the whereabouts of the sixth missing person remain unknown.
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among the six people unaccounted for after his vessel sank at around 5am on Monday near the Sicilian capital of Palermo, having been caught in a violent tornado, known as a waterspout.
Read the full story here:
In pictures: Four bodies recovered from Bayesian superyacht are brought ashore
Bayesian’s captain described as ‘very good sailor and well respected’
The Bayesian’s captain, James Cutfield, is a “very good sailor” and “very well respected” in the Mediterranean, his brother Mark has told The New Zealand Herald.
The 51-year-old New Zealander survived the shipwreck.
Captain of yacht who helped rescue 15 survivors of Bayesian disaster tells of ordeal
The captain of a yacht who helped to rescue 15 people from the stricken Bayesian superyacht has described how his crew spotted the distress flare set off from a life raft.
Karsten Borner said his vessel, the Sir Robert BP, was about 150 to 200 metres from the Bayesian when the “extreme” weather hit.
He said his boat was using its engine to stay in position and the crew noticed the Bayesian had disappeared before a passenger on his yacht spotted the flare.
Mr Borner said they dispatched their tender which found the life raft and brought the occupants back to his yacht.
He told Sky News: “We couldn’t see them anymore and they disappeared from the radar, we were busy keeping our own ship sailing. We couldn’t see the ship again so we were aware something was very wrong.”
He said it was only when the tender set out that they found the life raft.
He said: “It turned out to be the life raft, a 12-person life raft with 15 people inside including one baby. They stepped over to our tender and we brought them back to our ship. There we took good care of them, gave them dry clothes, towels, blankets, tea and coffee and so on and took care of them.”
Mr Borner said he helped the coastguard launch its search and rescue mission for the other occupants of the Bayesian.
He added that the captain of the Bayesian told him the yacht had sunk in two minutes but he had since seen a video which showed it go down in 60 seconds.
He said: “The engineer and captain had no explanation why she sank so quickly. My personal opinion is it shouldn’t tip like this, it goes against any logic.”
He also questioned the safety of the Bayesian’s 75-metre mast and added: “I think it’s not safe to build the masts.”
Describing the strength of the storm and sea spouts that hit his yacht and the Bayesian, he said: “They were very close and we were hit very hard, very strong and they had the same. It was extreme, it was extremely strong.”
Who are the people missing?
Five bodies have been found in the search for six people missing after the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily.
The island’s civil protection agency confirmed on Wednesday that four out of the five bodies have been recovered and a sixth person remains unaccounted for.
It comes after the body of a chef on the superyacht, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered on Monday.
Here is detailed what we know of those who were on board:
Source: independent.co.uk
