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Mike Lynch and daughter among six missing after yacht sinks: What we know about disaster - and 'alarming' potential cause

One person is confirmed to have died after the British-flagged luxury vessel named Bayesian sank, with 22 people on board. Sky News looks at what we know about the tragedy.

News reporter @samuelosborne93

Tuesday 20 August 2024 16:25, UK

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British tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter are among six people missing after a superyacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily - with one person confirmed to have died.

Twenty-two people were on board the vessel, 15 of whom were rescued - including Briton Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter Sofia.

Four other Britons and two Americans remain missing, including Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, according to Italian media. The entrepreneur's wife Angela Bacares was rescued.

Here's what we know about the sinking of the luxury vessel so far.

Follow live: People missing after superyacht sinks

What might have caused the sinking?

The British-flagged luxury vessel, named the Bayesian, capsized at around 4.30am local time off Palermo, according to ship-tracking site Marine Traffic.

It sank with 22 people on board - 12 passengers and a crew of 10, according to the Italian coastguard.

Waterspouts, essentially tornados which form over water, were seen as powerful winds battered the area overnight, local media said.

The yacht may have also tipped over more easily with all the doors open due to the hot weather, Sailing Today magazine editor Sam Jefferson has said.

"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," he said.

"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."

Official pictures show air conditioning units in several of the rooms, however, which could counter the suggestion open windows caused the vessel to sink faster.

What are waterspouts?

Waterspouts typically occur during thunderstorms and can develop very rapidly, within minutes.

Their spin generally reaches wind speeds between 75-200mph, but can reach as high as 300mph.

They can travel at around 10-20mph typically but can reach greater speeds, making them difficult to avoid - especially in something as slow-moving as a yacht.

Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, called the reports of a tornado or waterspout "rare" and "quite alarming".

"The vessel was at anchor in a recognised anchorage," Mr Schanck said.

"Depending on wind direction and the state of the sea, this informs the captain whether it is a safe area to anchor or not. There was nothing that was too concerning, for my eye. All in all, the captain used the information they had to make a safe call."

Who owns the yacht?

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among those missing.

The 59-year-old owner of the yacht is known as the "British Bill Gates" and has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.

In June, a US jury cleared him of all charges , which were related to the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP).

HP accused him of deliberately overstating the value of the company before it was acquired by the American tech giant.

Mr Lynch was extradited to the US to face trial in May last year and spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco as he awaited trial on 17 charges of conspiracy and wire fraud brought by the US Department of Justice - which were later reduced to 15 charges. He always denied any wrongdoing and was acquitted.

Read more: Lynch's co-defendant dies days before yacht sinking

Who was on board when the boat sank?

The vessel had passengers from Britain, America and Canada, the Italian coastguard said.

Most of those on board were British, Italian news outlets have reported, adding that the others were from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Ireland.

Charlotte Golunski was among the Britons rescued. Her LinkedIn profile says she is a partner at Mr Lynch's firm Invoke Capital and has worked there since 2012.

Speaking after the ordeal, Ms Golunski told Italian media that she lost her daughter Sofia for "two seconds" amid the "fury" of the sea but was able to retrieve her. She said she held the infant above the waves until the lifeboat was ready.

"Many people screamed. Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us were able to get on board," she told ANSA.

The girl's father James Emsley also survived, according to Sicily's civil protection agency.

Also on board were Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley, his wife Judy Bloomer, a top US lawyer Chris Morvillo, who worked on Mr Lynch's criminal case, and his wife Neda Morvillo.

Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan chef who was working on the boat, has been found dead, the Italian Coastguard has confirmed to Sky News.

Eight of those rescued were transferred to local hospitals and all were in stable condition, local media reported.

During rescue efforts, divers saw "corpses through the portholes" of the wreck as they recovered the body of a man at a depth of 50m (164ft), according to Salvo Cocina, the head of the Civil Protection of Sicily.

What do we know about the vessel?

The Bayesian was known for its unusual 72.3m (246ft) single mast - one of the world's tallest made of aluminium - and shared its name with the statistical method Mr Lynch's Autonomy software was based on.

It was built by Italian company Perini Navi in 2008 and last refitted in 2020.

It was listed for rent for up to €195,000 (£166,000) a week, according to online charter sites.

The luxury vessel, which was managed by yachting company Camper & Nicholsons, can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites.

It won a string of awards for its design, according to online specialist yacht sites.

Mr Schanck said the vessel would have been equipped with "high standard" life-saving appliances and radio communications. He added the yacht would have met all international standards and UK maritime coastguard agency regulations before its voyage.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of "at anchor", according to vessel tracking site VesselFinder.

The Bayesian previously travelled to other parts of Sicily before its last sighting off the coast of the port of Porticello.

On Sunday, the boat was seen off the coast of Cefalu before it travelled towards Porticello, MarineTraffic data shows.

In the days before, the yacht travelled around four of the Aeolian islands, just north of Sicily.

It was previously named Salute, or "health" in Italian, when it flew under a Dutch flag. Its minimalist interior featured light wood with Japanese accents designed by the French designer Remi Tessier, according to descriptions on charter sites.

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Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation into the sinking.

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• Güzeloba Mah. Çağlayangil Cad. No:29 Muratpaşa, Antalya - TÜRKİYE
• 0533 032 69 83
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• Week Days: 09.00 to 18.00 Sunday: Closed
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About Obsidian

OBSIDIAN is the choice to create unforgettable memories with friends and family. It is one of the few luxury yacht in its class and the experience is complimented with first class servise and hospitality by our team. It is once in a lifetime experience that is worth to try.

Onboard Facilities

Some of our onboard facilities listed below.

Modern Kitchen

Water sports, luxurious cabins, specification.

• Yacht Name Obsidian
• Yacht Model 98 Leonardo
• Yacht Type Planning Hull
• Engine MTU 16V 2000 (1471 kW) x2
• Flag Turkey
• Builder Azimut
• Year of Build 2004 / 2018
• Yacht Length 30 m / 7 m
• Cabins 4 Cabins

Tours Organized

Swimming Pool

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Antalya tours.

Antalya Tour

• Total tour time: 6 hours
• Cruising time: 2 hours

Departure from Setur marina and Cruise in front of the Konyaaltı beach to the old harbor of Antalya. İn front of the old town a short photo break. Afterwards cruise alongside the cliffs of Antalya to the Karpuzkaldıran Waterfall. Photo break Close the waterfall Anchoring.

Over there time for swimming and the lunch will serve also there. Afterwards cruise to the Rat island. At the island another break for swimming. After this last break, time to turn back to the Harbor.

Harbor departure Kemer tour

• Total tour time: 7 hours
• Cruising time: 3,5 hours

Departure from the Harbor. Cruise to the Ayışığı bay in Kemer. Anchoring and time for swimming. Also the lunch will be served over there.

Afterwards cruise back to the Harbor. On the way back a swimming break at the Rat island.

Harbor departure Kemer and Phaselis bay tour

• Total tour time: 9 hours
• Cruising time: 4.5 – 5 hours

Departure from the Harbor and cruise to the Ayışığı bay nearby Kemer. Over there Anchoring and swimming break. Afterwards cruise to the Phaselis bay. Swimming break and lunch serving.

Afterwards cruise back to the Harbor. On the way back another short stopover for a swimming break.

Belek Area Departure Antalya tour

• Cruising time: 4 - 4.5 hours

Departure from your Hotel and cruise to the Karpuzkaldıran Waterfall. Photo break at the waterfall and Anchoring nearby the waterfall. Over there swimming break. Afterwards cruising alongside the cliffs of Antalya to the Old Harbor of Antalya. Another short Photo break over there.

Afterwards cruising in front of the Konyaaltı beach to the Rat island. During the cruise serving of the lunch. Anchoring and swimming at the island. After this break back to your Hotel.

Harbor departure Antalya Night Tour

• Total tour time: 4 hours
• Cruising time: 1 hour 45 min

Departure from the Harbor. Cruising in front of the Konyaaltı beach to the old harbor of Antalya. Over there a short photo break. Afterwards cruising throw the cliffs of Antalya to the Karpuzkaldıran Waterfall. Photo break in front of the waterfall and nearby the waterfall we will Anchor.

Over there time for swimming and the lunch will serve also there. Afterwards cruising to the Rat island. At the island another break for swimming. After the stop back to the Harbor.

Harbor departure island and Çaltıcak bay Night cruise

• Cruising time: 1 hour 30 min

Departure from the Harbor and cruise to the Çaltıcak bay. Over there swimming break.

Afterwards cruising to the Rat island. Anchoring and swimming break. Serving of the Dinner. After this stop back to the Harbor.

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British-flagged superyacht Bayesian sunk in Sicily was based in Mallorca

Some of the crew are apparently residents on the island.

A handout photo made available on 19 August 2024 by Perini Navi Press Office shows the 'Bayesian' sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. At least one person died, six remain missing and 15 passengers were rescued, after a 56-meter-long luxury sailboat, the Bayesian, with 22 people on board, sank at dawn on 19 August off Porticello, near Palermo, after a tornado hit the area. | PERINI NAVI PRESS OFFICE / HANDO

While divers scoured the wreck of luxury yacht Bayesian off Sicily’s coast today to find six missing people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and a Morgan Stanley executive, following an intense storm that sank the vessel on Monday, it has been reported that the superyacht was based in Mallorca and some of the crew are apparently residents on the island. Furthermore, the Perini Navi sloop was refit in Mallorca in June 2016.

Launched in 2008 by Perini Navi, Bayesian is one of the 50 largest sailing yachts in the world and her mammoth mast supports a total sail area of almost 3,000 square metres. The yacht, which is about 50 metres long, sank when it was anchored off Porticello with more than 20 passengers and crew.

Initial work in the area has managed to rescue 15 people alive, including a one-year-old girl. The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) superyacht, was carrying 22 people and anchored off the port of Porticello when it was hit by the fierce, pre-dawn storm. Fifteen people escaped before it capsized and the body of one person who died was swiftly recovered. That left six passengers unaccounted for - Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Morgan Stanley International non-executive chairman Jonathan Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and their two wives.

“The fear is that the bodies got trapped inside the vessel,” which was lying 49 metres (160 feet) deep, Salvatore Cocina, head of civil protection in Sicily, told Reuters. This meant time beneath the waves was a limiting factor for the divers. “The biggest difficulty we have is due to the depth, which does not allow long times of intervention,” fire department diver Marco Tilotta told reporters. “We plan ... to search centimetre by centimetre.” Tilotta said the vessel appeared to be intact and was lying on its right side. Divers had not ascertained whether the 72-metre-long mast had snapped somewhere along its length.

LYNCH TRIAL

Lynch, 59, is one of the UK’s best-known tech entrepreneurs. He built the country’s largest software firm, Autonomy, from his ground-breaking research at Cambridge University and became known as Britain’s Bill Gates. He sold the firm to HP for $11 billion in 2011, after which the deal spectacularly unravelled with the U.S. tech giant accusing him of fraud, resulting in a lengthy trial. Lynch was eventually acquitted by a jury in San Francisco in June.

Morvillo represented Lynch in the case, while Bloomer had appeared as a character witness on his behalf. In an apparent extraordinary coincidence, Stephen Chamberlain, Mike Lynch’s co-defendant in the trial, died after a road accident in Britain over the weekend, his lawyer said on Monday. The Bayesian was owned by Lynch’s wife, who survived the disaster , and other guests on the yacht included Lynch’s colleagues. The only body so far retrieved was that of the onboard chef Ricardo Thomas, an Antiguan citizen. The British government’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch said it sent four of its inspectors to Sicily to conduct a “preliminary assessment.”

‘DIDN’T SEE IT COMING’

One expert at the scene of the disaster who declined to be named said an early focus of the official investigation would be whether the yacht’s crew had closed access hatches into the vessel before the storm struck. Investigators would look at whether appropriate measures had been taken, given the forecasts for bad weather overnight.

“We didn’t see it coming,“ the captain of the yacht, James Catfield, said of the storm, according to la Repubblica news website on Monday. Storms and heavy rains have ravaged Italy in recent days, after weeks of scorching heat warmed the sea temperature to record highs, raising the risk of extreme weather conditions, experts said.

“The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), which is almost 3 degrees more than normal,“ said meteorologist Luca Mercalli. “We can’t say that this is all due to global warming but we can say that it has an amplifying effect,” he told Reuters.

• Nautical industry
• Superyachts
• Superyachts in Mallorca
• british yachts

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My goodness, a terrible tragedy, and all put down to an act of god. Without that, the whole incident/ connections come across as extremely suspicious.

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Latest: No one remembers the mast snapping before 56m superyacht Bayesian sunk, says crew

No one recalls seeing the mast snap on board the 56-metre Perini Navi sailing yacht Bayesian which sunk yesterday (19 August) off the Italian island of Sicily. The eyewitness account of a crewmember on board the vessel, which was obtained by BOAT International , said that the boat was struck by a freak weather event which led to the yacht heeling at around 20 degrees to starboard. As crewmembers were securing items, the heeling angle began to increase rapidly until the yacht started sinking.

The crewmembers who were up on deck were able to evacuate the yacht with minor injuries. The yacht is understood to have sunk in just twelve minutes, and it is believed that a "major ingress" of water from the top down would have caused the sinking, according to a captain who wishes to remain anonymous. This is based on the fact that no breaches have been reported in the yacht's hull, and the fact that the yacht should have been able to remain afloat with two flooded compartments.

"Very difficult to understand what could have overwhelmed a vessel of that size" says captain of sistership

The captain of the sistership to the sunken 56-metre Perini Navi sailing yacht Bayesian has said it is "very difficult to understand what could have overwhelmed a vessel of that size" and called the 56-metre Perini Navi series "bulletproof".

David Hutchinson, captain of Rosehearty , said he had taken the yacht around the world multiple times and he had "total faith in the boat".  "We've been to Antarctica and Chile, and we've had her in 70 knots of wind," he says, and the vessel had never put them in a situation that felt unmanageable.

However, Hutchinson noted there were differences between Bayesian and Rosehearty ; notably, Bayesian's  74-metre mast, which would have been heavier and added increased windage. The yacht's layout was also different, with guest accommodation on Bayesian located further forward.

Who's currently missing in the Bayesian disaster?

The yacht's sinking in Italy has resulted in one confirmed death, which is understood to be the chef, and six additional people missing.

The six missing individuals are:

• British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, once dubbed 'Britain's Bill Gates'
• Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah
•  Morgan Stanley's chairman, Jonathan Bloomer
• Judy Bloomer, wife of Morgan Stanley chairman
• Chris Morvillo, a lawyer working for London-based law firm Clifford Chance
• Neda Morvillo, an American jewellery designer and Chris' wife

It is understood that the yacht was being used to celebrate Lynch's recent victory in a 13-year £8 billion fraud acquittal.

Live updates

• A search and rescue is currently underway for six people missing in the waters off Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily.
• Mike Lynch, a British technology entrepreneur who co-founded Autonomy Corporation and founded Invoke Capital, is among the missing.
• Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and a one-year-old are among the fifteen people rescued along with Bayesian' s captain, James Catfield.
• The BBC has reported that the Palermo Coastguard has confirmed the body that has been recovered is that of the yacht's chef.
• Another sailing vessel in the area, the 42-metre Sir Robert Baden Powell ,  is understood to have stepped in to offer assistance in the initial rescue.
• Divers have been able to reach Bayesian' s sunken hull, which lies at 45 metres of depth about half a mile from the coast. The yacht had the largest aluminium masts of any sailing yacht on the water.
• Eyewitnesses in the area reported "hurricane" conditions off the coast but local weather websites did not indicate any severe squall, which suggests that the weather event was not forecast.
• At around 5am local time on 19 August, Bayesian was hit by bad weather and sunk.  The sailing yacht was anchored or idle at the time of the incident.

Built in Italy by renowned builder Perini Navi and delivered in 2008, the yacht's naval architecture was developed by Ron Holland Design while the interior design is by Rémi Tessier . She was formerly known as Salute and was last refitted in 2016. She was listed for sale earlier this year, according to BOATPro . The yacht had accommodation for nine guests and 12 crew.

BOAT International will update the story as it develops.

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