Four deceased individuals are retrieved from submerged luxury watercraft.
Two days and a half past the sinking of the extravagant yacht "Bayesian" off Sicily's coast, rescuers have successfully retrieved four submerged corpses from the sunken vessel at a depth of around fifty meters. The victims were discovered within the vessel by professional divers.
As per Italian news station Rai, the deceased individuals included 59-year-old British tycoon Michael Lynch, who was celebrating his acquittal in court, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Unfortunately, the faint hope of finding any survivors has now almost vanished. Two more bodies were suspected to be on board the ship as evening approached. The first fatality was confirmed in the water on Monday, making a total of five confirmed deaths.
The precise sequence of events leading to the mishap, which took place just half a nautical mile, or approximately 900 meters, from the shore, remains enigmatic. The ship's injured captain was questioned comprehensively by authorities. However, some question the authenticity of his statement, "We didn't see it coming." In total, 22 individuals were aboard. Lynch's wife is among the survivors.
Rescue operations underway
The tilted ship, now resting on the sea floor, complicates search and rescue operations. On Tuesday, specialized firefighters managed to initially inspect some rooms situated beneath the bridge, eventually gaining entry to the lower deck's passenger cabins. A diving robot was also employed.
The 56-meter-long "Bayesian" sank in its entirety early Monday morning during a ferocious storm near Porticello's harbor - reportedly within sixty seconds. Experts continue to ponder over how such a swift tragedy could have unfolded. Suggestions range from an open hatch during a massive wave to an incorrectly set rudder acting upon the hull, responsible for regulating the ship's draft.
Luxurious yacht underwent extensive refurbishment in 2020
The 15-year-old yacht had undergone a thorough refurbishment in 2020. The vessel contained a system allowing it to reduce its draft by half: with the full extension of the rudder, the yacht featured a keel depth of nearly ten meters under normal sailing conditions. The counterforces exerted by the 75-meter-high mast could be balanced using this system. However, the draft could be reduced to about four meters, such as when entering a harbor.
Lynch, often likened to his native country's "British Bill Gates" by tabloid media, made headlines when he sold his software company Autonomy to American conglomerate Hewlett-Packard for 11 billion US dollars (equivalent to 9.94 billion euros today) in 2011 – one of the most significant buyout failures in Silicon Valley's history.
Lynch and former finance manager, Steve Chamberlain, who was killed in a tragic car accident while jogging recently, were accused of misrepresenting Autonomy's financial standing towards Hewlett-Packard. A San Francisco jury eventually acquitted both men of the charges.
The shipwreck of the "Bayesian" has made recovery efforts challenging due to its tilted position on the sea floor. Despite this, rescue teams continue to search for the remaining suspected bodies, bringing the total number of bodies found to seven.
The loss of Steve Chamberlain, a key figure in Lynch's life, added to the tragedy of the shipwreck, further highlighting the unfortunate series of events surrounding the sinking of the extravagant yacht "Bayesian".
