Rescue Efforts Continue After Bayesian Yacht Sinks: Latest News

Rescue Efforts Continue After Bayesian Yacht Sinks: Latest News

A devastating storm off the coast of Sicily has sunk the luxury yacht Bayesian, leaving one dead and six people, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, missing. The superyacht, struck by a freak storm that unleashed powerful waterspouts, disappeared beneath the waves. Rescue teams are racing against time to locate the missing passengers amid harsh weather conditions. The Mediterranean tragedy has shocked the world, as details continue to emerge.

Renewed Search Launched for Six Missing After Superyacht Disaster

Rescue teams and divers returned to the wreck site of a sunken superyacht off the coast of Sicily on Tuesday to continue the search for six missing people, including British tech mogul Mike Lynch. The missing individuals are believed to be trapped within the yacht’s hull, which lies 50 meters (164 feet) underwater.

Divers prepared rescue equipment at the port of Porticello, near Palermo, after an initial search on Monday proved unsuccessful. According to fire rescue crews, divers were unable to reach the below-deck cabins due to debris that had shifted during the violent storm, blocking access as the luxury yacht capsized early Monday morning.

Fifteen people were rescued, including a mother who reportedly held her 1-year-old baby above the waves to save her. Authorities have confirmed the recovery of one body.

“Access was restricted to the bridge because furnishings obstructed the divers’ passage,” fire crews said in a statement.

The search is further complicated by the yacht’s position on the seabed at a depth of 50 meters, which limits the amount of time divers can remain underwater, according to fire rescue spokesperson Luca Cari. The ongoing search effort is expected to take timey.

The 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged luxury yacht, Bayesian, had been moored about half a mile off the coast of Porticello when a violent storm hit around 4 a.m. on Monday. Civil protection officials believe the vessel was struck by a waterspout, a tornado-like phenomenon that passed through the area.

Out of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 managed to escape, first onto a lifeboat and then with the help of a nearby sailboat, the Sir Robert Baden Powell, which was also moored offshore to weather the storm. Karsten Borner, the captain of the Baden Powell, recounted the rescue efforts to reporters at the scene.

Tragically, the body of the yacht’s chef was found nearby, while six others remain missing. Among them is Mike Lynch, a tech mogul once hailed as Britain’s king of technology. Lynch had recently been acquitted of fraud and conspiracy charges in a U.S. federal trial related to Hewlett Packard’s $11 billion acquisition of his company, Autonomy Corp. His wife, Angela Bacares, survived the disaster.

The vacation had seemed to be a celebration of Lynch’s acquittal, with many of the guests being those who had supported him throughout his legal ordeal. Among the missing are Christopher Morvillo, one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers from Clifford Chance, and his wife. Jonathan Bloomer, former head of the Autonomy audit committee who testified at Lynch’s trial, and his wife are also unaccounted for.

One of the survivors, Charlotte Golunski, shared a harrowing story with the Italian news agency ANSA. She described how she briefly lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter, Sofia, in the water but managed to lift her above the waves until they were both rescued by an inflatable lifeboat. Sofia’s father, identified as James Emslie by ANSA, also survived.

The Bayesian, built in 2008 by the Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi, was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew members at the time of the tragedy. The yacht, which features a towering 75-meter aluminum mast—one of the tallest in the world—has been available for charter at a rate of €195,000 (about $215,000) per week, according to online charter companies.

Bayesian Yacht Sinking off the Coast of Sicily: One Dead, Six Missing

A luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during extreme weather conditions, leaving one man dead and six people missing. The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-meter vessel, was carrying 22 people, including 12 passengers and 10 crew members, when it was caught in a sudden storm early Monday morning. Among the missing is British tech tycoon Mike Lynch. So far, 15 people have been rescued, while search efforts continue for those still unaccounted for.

Latest News – What Happened to the Bayesian Yacht?

The Bayesian was struck by an intense storm in the early hours of Monday, according to eyewitness accounts. The yacht had been anchored outside the harbor of Porticello, a small fishing village east of Palermo, when a “violent storm” swept in, as described by the Italian coastguard. The storm was so powerful that it created waterspouts, which are rotating columns of air and mist over the sea.

Eyewitnesses told the Italian news agency Ansa that the yacht’s anchor was down when the storm hit. The storm’s force broke the vessel’s 72-meter (236-foot) aluminum mast in half, causing the yacht to lose balance and sink. The yacht disappeared beneath the water around 05:00 local time (04:00 BST).

Karsten Borner, the captain of a nearby boat, said that after the storm passed, his crew noticed that the yacht, which had been behind them, was gone. “We saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position and found a life raft drifting,” he told Reuters. Borner’s crew rescued several survivors, including three who were seriously injured.

Another witness, Fabio Cefalù, a trawler captain, shared that he stayed in the harbor after spotting lightning flashes before a planned fishing trip. “At about 4:15 am, we saw a flare in the sea,” he said, as reported by the EVN news agency. After waiting for the waterspout to pass, Cefalù ventured out and saw debris from the sunken yacht floating in the water, but no signs of people.

A fisherman also described witnessing the yacht’s sinking. Speaking to the newspaper Giornale di Sicilia, he recounted being at home when the storm struck and seeing the large vessel with only one mast. He then went down to Santa Nicolicchia bay in Porticello to get a closer look, only to watch as the yacht suddenly disappeared beneath the waves.

Harrowing Survivor Accounts

One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Golunski, recounted her terrifying experience to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. She described how she held her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, above the water to keep her from drowning. Charlotte, her partner James, and Sofia survived because they were on deck when the yacht sank. They had been woken by the storm’s thunder, lightning, and waves, which made the yacht feel like it was “dancing.” It felt like “the end of the world” before they were thrown into the water.

“For two seconds, I lost my daughter in the sea, but I quickly grabbed her amid the fury of the waves,” Charlotte said. She added, “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning. It was all dark. In the water, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help, but all I could hear were the screams of others around me.”

Who Was On Board?

At the time of the storm, 22 people were on board the Bayesian, including 12 passengers and 10 crew members. The body of one individual has been recovered, believed to be the ship’s cook, although formal identification and nationality confirmation are still pending.

Among the six people still missing is 59-year-old tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, often referred to as the “British Bill Gates.” Lynch is the founder of the software company Autonomy, which he established in 1996. He was awarded an OBE in 2006 for his contributions to enterprise. Recently, Lynch was acquitted of accusations related to a large-scale fraud involving the $11 billion (£8.64 billion) sale of Autonomy to Hewlett Packard. In an interview with the BBC following the verdict, Lynch expressed that his wealth had enabled him to cover the significant legal expenses required to prove his innocence.

The missing passengers also include Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah; Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International; and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer from Clifford Chance, according to Sicily’s civil protection agency. Reports from La Repubblica indicate that the missing individuals consist of four British nationals and two Americans.

Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is among the 15 survivors, according to the Italian coastguard. Eight of the rescued passengers are currently receiving hospital treatment. Among the survivors are British tourist Charlotte Golunski, her husband, and their daughter Sofia, who were unharmed but taken to the hospital for check-ups. Charlotte mentioned that they had been traveling on the yacht with a group of colleagues.

According to the Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper, the passengers on board were mostly British, with others from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and British-French citizens. Dr. Domenico Cipolla, a doctor based in Palermo, shared that the survivors were “very tired” and continually asking about the missing passengers. He mentioned that one of the survivors described the trip as a “corporate holiday,” with many young individuals on board. The group consisted of work colleagues, friends, and a few spouses or friends who had joined the trip.

Latest Updates on the Search

Six passengers remain missing as the search and rescue operation continues. The Palermo coastguard stated that efforts are ongoing “incessantly” to locate the missing. Police divers have located wreckage approximately 50 meters below the surface of the water.

On Monday, the search involved four patrol boats, a helicopter, and a team of divers, with additional support from a naval and underwater team from the Palermo fire brigade. Video footage from the site showed helicopters hovering over multiple coastguard vessels as divers descended into the water wearing bright orange suits.

Francesco Venuto, a spokesperson for Sicily’s civil protection agency, told the BBC that rescue teams fear the missing individuals may be trapped inside the wreckage. “We’ve been searching all day with helicopters and boats, but we’ve found nothing. In these conditions, we should have found something by now,” he said.

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch has also dispatched a team of four investigators to carry out a preliminary assessment of the sinking, according to the BBC.

Salvatore Cocina, the director general of Sicily’s civil protection agency, announced that the rescue operation would resume at 06:30 local time (05:30 BST) on Tuesday. A specialized caving search and rescue diving team arrived from Rome on Monday, with hopes of achieving results either overnight or by Tuesday morning.

What is a Waterspout and How Do They Form?

A waterspout is a phenomenon similar to a tornado, but it forms over bodies of water such as oceans, seas, or large lakes. The western Mediterranean region has been experiencing severe storms since the middle of last week, with a particularly intense weather system affecting northern Sicily on Sunday night and into Monday morning.

BBC Weather forecaster Matt Taylor explained that “a waterspout is a tornado that forms over water rather than land. These can develop during intense storms at the base of cumulonimbus or thunder clouds. Turbulence, combined with winds moving in slightly different directions around the cloud, can cause rotation under the base, leading to the formation of the spout. Like tornadoes, waterspouts bring strong winds, but instead of lifting dust and debris, they create a misty column of water surrounding the rotating air.”

What Is the Bayesian? Bayesian Yacht Owner

The Bayesian is a luxury superyacht designed to accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites. It is available for rent at rates of up to €195,000 (£166,000) per week. Built in 2008 by the Italian shipbuilding company Perini Navi, the vessel is known for its elegant design and state-of-the-art features.

The yacht’s registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd, a company based on the Isle of Man. The name Bayesian is believed to be inspired by Bayesian theory, which formed the basis of Mike Lynch’s PhD thesis and contributed to the development of the software that made him a fortune.

Mr. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is recorded as the sole legal owner of Revtom Ltd, the company that owns the yacht. The vessel had recently completed several sailings, visiting various ports in Sicily, according to ship-tracking data from VesselFinder.

A spokesperson for Camper and Nicholsons International, the company responsible for managing the yacht, told BBC Verify, “Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew.”

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