Search resumes for six missing after Mike Lynch's yacht sank, but hopes dim

[August 21, 2024]  PORTICELLO, Italy (Reuters) - Divers resumed a search on Wednesday for survivors after British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch's yacht sank off the coast of Sicily two days ago, though hopes dwindled of finding the six missing people alive.

The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) superyacht, was carrying 22 people and was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it capsized during a fierce storm on Monday.

Fifteen people survived, one crew member's body was recovered and six passengers remain unaccounted for, including Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International.

Underwater inspection of the wreck resumed early on Wednesday after being paused late on Tuesday, the fire department said on social media. It earlier described the operations as "long and complex".

The yacht was lying sideways at a depth of around 50 meters, giving divers 8-10 minutes to inspect it before having to resurface. Efforts have been hampered by "very confined" spaces inside the wreck, fire department spokesman Luca Cari said.

MISSING PASSENGERS

Lynch, 59, is one of the UK's best-known tech entrepreneurs. He built the country's largest software firm, Autonomy, and was referred to as Britain's Bill Gates.

He sold the firm to HP for $11 billion in 2011, after which the deal spectacularly unraveled with the U.S. tech giant accusing him of fraud, resulting in a lengthy trial. Lynch was acquitted on all charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.

Rescue personnel operate at a port to search for the missing, including British entrepreneur Mike Lynch, after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo, Italy, August 21, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

The other missing passengers are Bloomer's wife Judy, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo. Morvillo represented Lynch in the San Francisco trial, while Bloomer was a character witness on his behalf.

Experts have been at a loss to explain how a large luxury vessel, presumed to have top-class fittings and safety features, could have sunk within minutes, as recounted by witnesses. Another yacht anchored next to it was unharmed by the tempest.

Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, a UK-based non-profit organization that trains sea rescuers, said the Bayesian was the victim of a "high impact" and rare weather event.

"If it was a water spout, which it appears to be, it's what I would class as like a black swan event," he told Reuters.

He said he was confident the authorities would "get to the bottom" of what caused the shipwreck, thanks to the accounts of survivors, witnesses and examination of the ship, which appears to have remained intact on the seabed.

(Reporting by Guglielmo Mangiapane and Matteo Negri, Writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gavin Jones and Bernadette Baum)

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