The body of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, age 59, has been retrieved from the wreckage of his family’s superyacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily earlier this week. The tragic incident occurred during a severe storm, and Lynch's body was recovered and transported to a hospital morgue.
The search for Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, is ongoing, as she remains missing. The previous day, the bodies of four other individuals who were aboard the yacht were found. The yacht, named Bayesian, was a 56-meter (184-foot) luxury vessel flagged under Britain. It sank rapidly after severe weather struck while it was anchored near Porticello, close to Palermo.
Among the missing were Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo. The onboard chef, Canadian-Antiguan Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreckage hours after the disaster.
Fifteen people, including Lynch's wife, were rescued by coastguard patrol boats and firefighters. The cause of the rapid sinking of the Bayesian, built by the renowned Italian yacht manufacturer Perini Navi, remains unclear. Marine experts are puzzled by the vessel’s inability to withstand the conditions, given its high-end construction and safety features.
The captain, James Cutfield, along with his surviving crew members, has yet to comment publicly on the incident. Lynch, who was recently acquitted of fraud charges in San Francisco related to the sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard, was celebrating his legal victory with friends on the yacht.
Investigators from the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office are examining the case but have not yet identified any formal suspects. Questions remain about why the superyacht sank so quickly, especially when a nearby sailboat, Sir Robert Baden Powell, survived and aided in the rescue.
Experts are investigating whether the yacht had a retractable keel or if a freak waterspout could have contributed to its sinking. Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, suggested that if the keel was retracted, it could have compromised the yacht’s stability, making it prone to rolling over.
Yachts like the Bayesian are designed with watertight compartments to prevent rapid sinking even if parts of the vessel are flooded. The investigation will seek to determine why these safety features did not prevent the disaster.
Intensified Rescue Operations in Sicily After Luxury Yacht Sinks During Storm