Sicily yacht sinking: Brother of banker says ‘air pockets’ may offer survival chance

The brother of the Morgan Stanley chairman missing after a superyacht sank off Sicily has said he hopes air pockets could be keeping those alive.

Speaking to the BBC, Jeremy Bloomer, the twin brother of Jonathan, said his fingers were crossed.

He said: “It’s a slow process and it will take time. So there might be air pockets, but we don’t know. It’s still wait and see, so fingers crossed.”

The search for British billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter has entered a crucial stage after the businessman’s yacht sank following a tornado off the coast of the Sicilian capital Palermo.

The Independent explains everything we know so far:

The wife of British billionaire Mike Lynch has sought refuge with other survivors in a hotel, which is just a six-minute drive from Porticello harbour, near to where the boat sank.

A hotel guest told The Mirror that the mother is in a very distressed state as she waits for updates on whether her husband and daughter Hannah, 18, are alive.

Angela Bacares made it to safety along with 15 other passengers after a violent storm truck just after 4am on Monday, consuming her sailing yacht Bayesian amidst a tower of tornado-waterspouts.

The 57-year-old described how she was woken early that morning after the boat “tilted” sharply, and after initially thinking nothing was wrong found herself showered in broken glass, according to Italy’s La Republica.

She then fled from her cabin – slicing her feet on the broken glass scattered across the deck – and safely made it off the boat as it vanished beneath the waves within minutes.

A friend of Mike Lynch has described him as a “very easy person to talk to”, with a “nice sense of humour”.

Richard Smith, who lives near Mr Lynch in the Suffolk village of Pettistree, told the BBC: “He is so approachable and a very easy person to talk to. A nice sense of humour. You might think with all that money that he would be a difficult person to talk to, but in fact he was a very easy person to talk to.”

The race to rescue any survivors from inside the sunken Bayesian superyacht is set to enter a crucial stage, with divers succeeding in smashing through a glass window to enter the hull.

Italian authorities have released drone footage of their “long and complex” operation trying to enter the sunken wreck of the Bayesian superyacht.

As friends hoped the remaining six missing guests found air pockets on the sunken vessel and had managed to survive for more than 50 hours Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coastguard said they were feared dead.

Asked about the likelihood of them being alive, he said: “Never say never, but reasonably the answer should be not.”

“We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea.

“Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly.

“We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat.”

David Tabizel, who co-founded software company Autonomy with Mike Lynch in 1996, has told Sky News: “I hope there’s a miracle about to occur.”

The Italian Coastguard has not ruled out the possibility that those missing, including technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, may still be alive, with experts speculating air pockets could have formed as the yacht sank.

Among those missing are also Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

Jeremy Bloomer, Jonathan Bloomer’s twin brother, told the BBC: “It’s a slow process and it will take time. So there might be air pockets, but we don’t know. It’s still wait and see, so fingers crossed”.

The frantic rescue operation continued overnight with divers trying to access the £14 million vessel, which is thought to be largely intact on the seabed.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the disaster with six still missing as they try to work out how the Bayesian sunk.

One expert at the scene in Sicily told Reuters that an early focus of the investigation, which is expected to last months, would be on whether the yacht’s crew had failed to close access hatches into the vessel before the tornado struck.

However, an industry expert said it should have taken hours for the Bayesian to fill up with enough water to sink it, making its swift demise incomprehensible.

“I don’t think the industry has ever faced anything like this. It’s a horror story,” he said, declining to be named.

Fire department diver Marco Tilotta told Il Messaggero daily the wreck was “apparently intact”, with “no gashes, no signs of impact”. However, only one half of the hull is visible to divers.

Prosecutors will also look at whether appropriate measures were taken in preparation for the storm, such as use of the yacht’s retractable keel, which adds extra stability and acts as a counterweight to the large mast.