Bodies recovered from capsized superyacht off Sicily

Divers have reportedly recovered five bodies — including that of UK software tycoon Mike Lynch — from the wreckage of the British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-meter-long (184-ft) superyacht that was carrying 22 people when it sank off Sicily, Italy, on Monday.

The total number of dead and recovered from the yacht now stands at six, with one person still missing.

The body of the onboard chef, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, was discovered near the wreck hours after the disaster. 

Fifteen people survived the incident, escaping in a lifeboat.

The Bayesian was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it capsized during a fierce, forecasted storm on Monday. Meteorological experts suspect a waterspout — a tornado-like occurrence over water — sank the vessel within a matter of minutes.

Investigators are currently interviewing witnesses and survivors to determine the exact cause of the sinking. At the moment they are reportedly looking into whether the keel of the vessel may have been retracted, making it more susceptible to rolling over and quickly taking on water through open portholes.

Among those missing were UK software tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, whose bodies were reportedly among those recovered Wednesday. Lynch's wife — who owned the Italian-made yacht — and their one-year-old daughter were among those who survived.  

Rescuers have called the recovery operation "long and complex," noting that the vessel was found lying on its side on the seabed at a depth of about 50 meters but that furniture and debris were making it difficult for divers to access interior spaces.

 

Who was onboard the yacht when it sank?

Those onboard were the guests of 59-year-old Lynch, who was celebrating his acquittal in a massive US fraud trial tied to the $11 billion (€9.9 billion) sale of his software firm Autonomy — the largest software company in the UK — to HP in 2011.

Lynch was acquitted by a San Francisco jury in June.

Among those who still remain missing are Jonathan Bloomer — a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International who served as a character witness for Lynch in his fraud case — and his wife Judy; Christopher Morvillo — Lynch's lawyer — and his wife Neda.

Why did the yacht sink?

The vessel's captain, who survived the sinking, was James Cutfield, an experienced 51-year-old New Zealander who is said to be "very well respected" in the Mediterranean.

Speaking with Reuters news agency, Matthew Schank, who chairs Maritime Search and Rescue, a UK-based non-profit that trains sea rescuers, said of the sinking, "If it was a water spout, which it appears to be, it's what I would class as like a 'black swan' event."

The term is used to refer to rare and unpredictable phenomena such as the "high impact" weather-related incident that seems to have sunk the Bayesian while leaving boats anchored directly nearby unscathed.

js/lo (AFP, AP, Reuters)