Five bodies were discovered Wednesday inside the Bayesian, the superyacht that sank off the Porticiello coast near Palermo on Monday morning.
Update: Divers have now recovered the five bodies and brought them to shore.
The fifth body retrieved by a team of firefighter divers belongs to British magnate Mike Lynch. Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, remains the only missing passenger. The other four bodies were identified as Jonathan Bloomer, president of Morgan Stanley International, his wife Anne Elizabeth, Lynch’s lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Nada.
The Bayesian, carrying 22 people, sank after a tornado struck the area. Coast guards rescued 15 passengers, but seven others were reported missing. One of these individuals, whose body was later recovered on Monday morning after firefighter divers reached the boat at a depth of approximately 50 meters, half a mile from the coast, was identified as Ricardo Thomas, the onboard chef.
Captain questioned by Italian prosecutors
Meanwhile, Termini Imerese prosecutors questioned Bayesian captain James Catfield, 51, for two hours on Wednesday, according to ANSA.
State attorneys in Termini Imerese, opened an investigation into the accident. They questioned the experienced skipper on Tuesday night to gain technical insights that could help determine why the sailboat sank so quickly, sources close to the investigation reported.
Magistrates also questioned the other shipwreck survivors on Wednesday at the Domina-Zagarella resort, where they are currently staying. According to an expert engineer from the Italian Sea Group – the company that owns Perini Navi, the shipyard in Viareggio that launched the Bayesian in 2008 – several mistakes may have been made before the accident.
The engineer, who spoke on condition of anonymity and expressed a personal opinion, suggested the boat’s engines were off and passengers were allowed to remain in their cabins during the storm.
“Basic security protocols provide for always having someone on guard duty during a storm, including when a boat is at anchor,” the engineer stated. “Moreover, even if the tornado was about to hit, there was all the time necessary to make it to safety. Just 15 minutes would have been necessary to activate all security measures,” the engineer added.
Search underway for two days
Operations continued throughout the day to search for the missing passengers. Expert teams of divers, along with ships and helicopters, were coordinated by Palermo coast guards. They were aided by coast guard divers from Naples and Messina. The search also involved divers who had participated in the mission following the deadly Concordia shipwreck, where the cruise ship sank between January 13th and 14th 2012, killing 33 people.
During their search missions, the divers are using a ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), a “robot” capable of operating at depths of up to 300 meters underwater and with an autonomy of six to seven hours.
Due to the depth of the wreckage, over 50 meters, divers can spend only up to 12 minutes searching the boat before resurfacing.
A video of the accident appears to show the boat sinking in just 60 seconds.
Former British minister Lord Deben remarked Wednesday that Lynch had been “set to start again” after enduring a 12-year legal ordeal, which he was celebrating with friends and family on the yacht.
