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

PORTICELLO, Italy - Divers resumed a search on Aug 21 for six missing people after British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s yacht sank off the coast of Sicily on Aug 19, although hopes dwindled of finding them alive.

The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56m-long superyacht, was carrying 22 passengers and crew and was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it capsized during a fierce, pre-dawn tempest on Aug 19.

Fifteen people survived and one crew member’s body was recovered. The six missing include Mr Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and Mr Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International.

Underwater inspection of the wreck resumed early on Aug 21 after being paused late on Aug 20, 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 50m, giving divers eight to 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.

The Italian coast guard said it was using a remotely operated vehicle to inspect the seabed and take underwater pictures and videos that may provide “useful and timely elements” for ongoing investigations into the disaster.

Missing passengers

Mr 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 US$11 billion (S$14.4 billion) in 2011, after which the deal spectacularly unravelled, with the US tech giant accusing him of fraud, resulting in a lengthy trial. Mr Lynch was acquitted on all charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.

The other missing passengers are Mr Bloomer’s wife Judy, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo. Mr Morvillo represented Mr Lynch in the San Francisco trial, while Mr 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.

The Bayesian, which was owned by Mr Lynch’s wife, was built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008 and last refitted in 2020. It had the world’s tallest aluminium mast, measuring 72m, according to its makers.

Black swan event

Its captain James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealander who survived the shipwreck, was a “very good sailor” and “very well respected” in the Mediterranean, his brother Mark told The New Zealand Herald.

Mr Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, said the Bayesian was the victim of a “high-impact” and rare weather event.

“Looking at the extreme weather, if it was a waterspout, which it appears to be, it’s what I would class as like a black swan event,” he told Reuters. “And even outside of the maritime industry, all industries struggle with the black swan events.”

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