The wreckage of a premium yacht that went under near Sicily’s coast on Monday has reportedly been searched by divers who have located the bodies of the six individuals who were unaccounted for. They include Mike Lynch, a British tech magnate, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, the international chair of Morgan Stanley, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, as well as Chris Morvillo, a lawyer from Clifford Chance, and his spouse, Neda. All were missing ever since the ship foundered.
The yacht, a 56-metre long vessel named Bayesian flying a British ensign, had 22 people on board and was anchored off-shore close to the harbour of Porticello when a meteorological event, either a tornado or waterspout, struck. Recaldo Thomas, the chef of the ship was found deceased shortly after the ship’s sinking.
Mike Lynch is traced to Irish lineage – his father was a firefighter from County Cork while his mother hailed from County Tipperary and was a nurse. Out of the total 22 passengers and crew onboard the yacht, 15 individuals, inclusive of Mr. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were safely evacuated via a lifeboat.
Bodies were transported to the harbour using a fire brigade vessel and then transferred to land. The Italian Coastguard had not entirely dismissed the chance that the missing people might still be alive, hypothesising that as the yacht plunged, air pockets might have formed, providing potential refuges.
Among those who were saved was Sasha Murray, aged 29 and from County Sligo. Sasha and the other survivors have found temporary accommodation in a holiday resort in Santa Flavia, a small town in the area.
Rescue teams have struggled with the difficult journey to reach the sunken yacht that now remains at a depth of 50m on the seabed off the coast. Investigations inside the ship were further hindered by furniture and debris after the hull was breached. The rescue operation was dubbed “complex” by firefighting crews, who could only permit divers to spend twelve-minute intervals underwater due to the conditions.
Inquiries are underway with those who witnessed the incident and survived it. James Cutfield, the skipper of the yacht, was purportedly subjected to questioning for a period exceeding two hours.
Both the harbour authorities and the public prosecutor of Termini Imerese, a locality in Sicily, have initiated independent probes. The aim is to ascertain if the yachting crew had implemented each of the required safety precautions. – Reporting agencies
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