One man has died, and six people are missing after a luxury yacht sank in severe weather off the coast of Sicily. The 56-meter British-flagged yacht, Bayesian, was carrying 22 people, 12 passengers and 10 crew, when a powerful storm, which generated waterspouts, struck early Monday morning.
Fifteen people have been rescued. A search is ongoing for those still missing, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch.
What happened?
The Bayesian was reportedly anchored outside the harbour at Porticello, a small fishing village east of Palermo, when it was hit by what the Italian coast guard described as a “violent storm.” The storm was so intense that it caused waterspouts – rotating columns of air and water mist – to form over the sea.
Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa the yacht’s anchor was down when the storm hit. This caused the 72-meter aluminium mast to snap in half, leading the yacht to lose balance and sink around 05:00.
Captain Karsten Borner, who was on a nearby boat, recounted how, after the storm passed, his crew noticed the yacht behind them had disappeared. “We saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position, and we found this life raft drifting,” he told Reuters.
They rescued several survivors, including three with serious injuries. Another witness, Fabio Cefalù, a trawler captain, said he stayed in the harbour after seeing lightning flashes. “At about 4:15 a.m., we saw a flare in the sea,” he said, according to EVN news agency. “We waited for the waterspout to pass, and after 10 minutes, we went out and saw debris from the boat in the water, but no people.”
A fisherman, speaking to the Giornale di Sicilia, described witnessing the yacht sink. “I was at home when the tornado hit. Then I saw the boat, it was very big, with just one mast. I saw it sink with my own eyes.”
Who was onboard?
Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is among the missing. The yacht had 22 people on board when the storm hit, including 12 passengers and 10 crew. One body, identified as the ship’s cook, has been recovered. Among the six people still missing are 59-year-old Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife.
Mr Lynch founded software giant Autonomy in 1996. He was extradited to the USA in 2023 to face charges of fraud relating to an $11billion sale to Hewlett Packard. He spent 13 months under house arrest.
In June, a jury cleared him of all charges. In an interview after the trial, he told a reporter he felt like he had a second chance at life.
Mike Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 rescued, with eight of those receiving hospital treatment.
One survivor, British tourist Charlotte Golunski, told La Repubblica how she held her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, above the water to prevent her from drowning. She and her partner, James, survived only because they were on deck when the yacht went down. “For two seconds, I lost my daughter in the sea, then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves,” she recounted. “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.”
A Palermo-based doctor treating survivors described them as “very tired” and “constantly asking about the missing people.”
What is the latest with the search?
Six passengers remain missing, and the Palermo coastguard continues its search and rescue operation. Police divers have located the wreckage approximately 50 metres below the surface. On Monday, four patrol boats, a helicopter, and a team of divers took part in the search, with a naval and underwater team from the Palermo fire brigade joining later.
Francesco Venuto, a spokesperson for Sicily’s civil protection agency, told the BBC that rescue teams fear the missing may still be inside the boat. “We’ve been searching all day with helicopters and boats and have found nothing. In these conditions, we should have found something by now,” he said.
On Monday, the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch sent a team of four investigators to conduct a preliminary assessment of the Bayesian’s sinking. The director general of Sicily’s civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, announced the rescue operation would resume at 06:30 local time on Tuesday, with a specialist caving search and rescue diving team arriving from Rome to assist in the efforts.
