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Lynch Yacht Sinking Off Sicily Proves as Baffling as It Is Tragic

As bodies were recovered, the authorities and experts wondered how a $40 million, stable and secure vessel could have sunk so quickly.

• Share full article

By Emma Bubola and Michael J. de la Merced

Emma Bubola reported from Porticello, Italy, and Michael J. de la Merced from London.

Two months after being cleared in a bruising legal battle over fraud charges, the British tech mogul Mike Lynch celebrated his freedom with a cruise. He invited his family, friends and part of his legal team on board his luxury sailing yacht, a majestic 180-foot vessel named Bayesian after the mathematical theorem around which he had built his empire.

On Sunday night, after a tour of the Gulf of Naples, including Capri, and volcanic islands in the Eolian archipelago, the boat anchored half a mile off the Sicilian coast in Porticello, Italy. It chose a stretch of water favored by the Phoenicians thousands years ago for its protection from the mistral wind and, in more recent times, by the yachts of tech billionaires. The boat was lit “like a Christmas tree,” local residents said, standing out against the full moon.

But about 4 a.m., calamity unfolded. A violent and fast storm hit the area with some of the strongest winds locals said they had ever felt. Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman, said he saw a flare pierce the darkness shortly after 4.

Minutes later, the yacht was underwater. Only dozens of cushions from the boat’s deck and a gigantic radar from its mast floated on the surface of the sea, fishermen said.

In all, 22 people were on board, 15 of whom were rescued. Six bodies had been recovered by Thursday, and one person was still missing. Rescuers said it was unlikely anyone would be found alive.

It was a tragic and mystifying turn of events for Mr. Lynch, 59, who had spent years seeking to clear his name and was finally inaugurating a new chapter in his life. Experts wondered how a $40 million yacht, so robust and stable could have been sunk by a storm near a port within minutes.

“It drives me insane,” said Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which in 2022 bought the company, Perini, that made the Bayesian. “Following all the proper procedures, that boat is unsinkable.”

The aura of misfortune only deepened when it emerged that Stephen Chamberlain, 52, a former vice president of finance for Mr. Lynch’s former company and a co-defendant in the fraud case, was killed two days earlier, when he was hit by a car while jogging near his house in England.

Since June, the two men had been in a jubilant mood. A jury in San Francisco had acquitted both on fraud charges that could have sent them to prison for two decades. There were hugs and tears, and they and their legal teams went for a celebratory dinner party at a restaurant in the city, said Gary S. Lincenberg, a lawyer for Mr. Chamberlain.

The sea excursion was meant as a thank-you by Mr. Lynch to those who had helped him in his legal travails. Among the guests was Christopher J. Morvillo, 59, a scion of a prominent New York family of lawyers who had represented Mr. Lynch for 12 years. He and his wife, Neda, 57, were among the missing.

So, too, was Jonathan Bloomer, 70, a veteran British insurance executive who chaired Morgan Stanley International and the insurer Hiscox.

The body of the ship’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered. The other bodies had yet to be identified. All the other crew members survived. Among them was Leo Eppel, 19, of South Africa, who was on his first yacht voyage working as a deck steward, said a friend, who asked not to be identified.

Since the sinking, the recovery effort and investigation have turned the tiny port town of Porticello, a quiet enclave where older men sit bare-chested on balconies, into what feels like the set of a crime movie.

Helicopters have flown overhead. Ambulances have sped by with the sirens blaring. The Coast Guard has patrolled the waters off shore, within sight of a cordoned-off dock that had been turned into an emergency headquarters.

On Wednesday afternoon, a church bell tolled after the first body bag was loaded into an ambulance, a crowd watching in silence.

The survivors were sheltering in a sprawling resort near Porticello, with a view of the shipwreck spot, and had so far declined to comment.

Attilio Di Diodato, director of the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, said that the yacht had most likely been hit by a fierce “down burst” — when air generated within a thunderstorm descends rapidly — or by a waterspout , similar to a tornado over water.

He added that his agency had put out rough-sea warnings the previous evening, alerting sailors about storms and strong winds. Locals said the winds “felt like an earthquake.”

Mr. Costantino, the boat executive, said the yacht had been specifically designed for having a tall mast — the second-tallest aluminum mast in the world. He said the Bayesian was an extremely safe and secure boat that could list even to 75 degrees without capsizing.

But he said that if some of the hatches on the side and in the stern, or some of the deck doors, had been open, the boat could have taken on water and sunk. Standard procedure in such storms, he said, is to switch on the engine, lift the anchor and turn the boat into the wind, lowering the keel for extra stability, closing doors and gathering the guests in the main hall inside the deck.

12 guests occupied the yacht’s six cabins. There were also 10 crew members.

Open hatches, doors and cabin windows could have let in water during a storm, according to the manufacturer.

Open hatches, doors and

cabin windows could

have let in water

during a storm,

according to the

manufacturer.

Source: Superyacht Times, YachtCharterFleet, MarineTraffic

By Veronica Penney

The New York Times attempted to reach the captain, James Cutfield, who had survived, for comment through social media, his brother and the management company of the yacht (which did not hire the crew), but did not make contact.

So far none of the surviving crew members have made a public statement about what happened that night.

Fabio Genco, the director of Palermo’s emergency services, who treated some of the survivors, said that the victims had recounted feeling as if the boat was being lifted, then suddenly dropped, with objects from the cabins falling on them.

The Italian Coast Guard said it had deployed a remotely operated vehicle that can prowl underwater for up to seven hours at a depth of more than 980 feet and record videos and images that they hoped would help them reconstruct the dynamics of the sinking. Such devices were used during the search and rescue operations of the Titan vessel that is believed to have imploded last summer near the wreckage of the Titanic.

After rescuers broke inside the yacht, they struggled to navigate the ropes and many pieces of furniture cluttering the vessel, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for Italy’s national firefighter corps.

Finally, as of Thursday morning, they had managed to retrieve all but one of the missing bodies, and hopes of finding the missing person alive were thin. “Can a human being be underwater for two days?” Mr. Cari asked.

What was certain was that Mr. Lynch’s disappearance was yet another cruel twist of fate for a man who had spent years seeking to clear his name.

He earned a fortune in technology and was nicknamed Britain’s Bill Gates. But for more than a decade, he had been treated as anything but a respected tech leader.

He was accused by Hewlett-Packard, the American technological pioneer that had bought his software company, Autonomy, for $11 billion, of misleading it about his company’s worth. (Hewlett-Packard wrote down the value of the transaction by about $8.8 billion, and critics called it one of the worst deals of all time .) He had been increasingly shunned by the British establishment that he sought to break into after growing up working-class outside London.

He was extradited to San Francisco to face criminal charges, and confined to house arrest and 24-hour surveillance on his dime. In a townhouse in the Pacific Heights neighborhood — with security people he jokingly told associates were his “roommates” — he spent his mornings talking with researchers whom he funded personally on new applications for artificial intelligence. Afterward, he devoted hours to discussing legal strategy with his team.

Despite his persistent claims of innocence, even those close to Mr. Lynch had believed his odds of victory were slim. Autonomy’s chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, was convicted in 2018 of similar fraud charges and spent five years in prison.

During Mr. Lynch’s house arrest, his brother and mother died. His wife, Angela Bacares, frequently flew over from England, and she became a constant presence in the San Francisco courtroom during the trial.

After he was finally acquitted, Mr. Lynch had his eye on the future. “I am looking forward to returning to the U.K. and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” he said.

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Pallanza, Italy.

Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome. More about Emma Bubola

Michael J. de la Merced has covered global business and finance news for The Times since 2006. More about Michael J. de la Merced

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Yacht crew positions : Hierarchy, Missions & Salaries explained

Like any well-run hotel, restaurant, or other luxury service, a crewed yacht needs organized structure and good management. Whether you’re staffing your own luxury vessel or looking for an exciting career working and traveling the world, you need to know how this structure works, and what you can expect to pay or earn and do in the various roles on board.

Every yacht is a little different, and organization may reflect the style of the captain or the demands of the owner. But the same jobs need to be done on almost every boat. Organized with ranks, heads of each division report to the Captain. It’s not a military-style organization, but there are parallels with merchant marine grades and structures.

Smaller yachts need fewer crew, and staff may wear multiple hats that cross more traditional divisions and may combine some jobs with others. Large yachts have more distinct divisions or subdivisions, with more specialization to divide tasks and manage staffing. The core skills are the same, but finding staff with the right blends to do the jobs is key. Crew with broader skills are highly sought after.

As a yacht owner, you shouldn’t have to worry about day-to-day management decisions or organizing all this. That’s why you have a captain, and it’s better to leave staffing decisions entirely up to him or her. But it’s still important to know what it is people you’re hiring do, why they’re there, and how many you need. You don’t want too many crew, or to be short-handed. An understanding of what your yacht needs helps you talk to the captain to keep your yacht running how you want it.

For those looking to break into yacht crew work, consider your skills and strengths, and what jobs appeal to you. You’ll need training before you work, and you can direct your job path through the training you seek. Your goal is a suitable position on a well-run yacht, so make yourself the most attractive candidate possible.

Yacht Work Life

Working on a yacht is also living on the yacht. Crew must have a space to sleep, food, and all the basics that any employee needs. Large yachts have space reserved for crew, and owners looking for quality crew should provide good working and living conditions. Your crew takes care of you, and you should take care of them.

Depending on where a yacht operates or what flag she flies, a variety of labor laws or rules may be in effect. These requirements may be for work visas, contracts and written agreements, and compliance with merchant and ship crew treaties and laws. Be prepared to have work and non-disclosure agreements between yacht and crew, though a few yachts skip this.

Seasonal Jobs

Many yacht positions are seasonal. Year-round employment is more likely for senior crew like the captain and department heads, but not all yachts see year-round use. And some yachts may use different crew in different locales between seasonal moves.

Any job listing should give seasonal information, with geographic information, the length of the season, and the prospects for year-round positions and repeat employment.

Hours, Salaries, and Expectations

Yacht crew is a service job at its core, and every yacht owner is looking for service-oriented people who understand how to deliver a hotel-quality living and restaurant-quality fine dining. Work experience in luxury hotels and restaurants is a big plus for some jobs, and makes breaking into yacht work easier.

Yacht work can be very demanding, with periods of intense work when the owner and guests or a charter party is on board. Long days aren’t uncommon, but often balance with slack time when the boat is empty of passengers. There is always work to be done, but there’s usually a chance for time off.

Most salaries are monthly, since many positions are seasonal. Pay ranges are commensurate with experience, rank, and responsibility. Private vessels usually offer higher base pay, as charter crew can earn tips on top of their base salary. Because of the demands of the lifestyle, compensation is good and you have minimal living expenses on board.

Benefits and Time Off

Because so many jobs are seasonal and may occur in different countries and locations, benefits offered to yacht crew vary widely. But it is not uncommon for crew to be offered health and accident insurance and a flight to the vessel. Living on board, you’ll get food, rooming (usually shared), basic toiletries, uniforms, and laundry. Yachts with a longer view may offer additional training to long-term prospects.

Time off is usually linked to boat use, and may be sporadic in-season or when the boat has the owner and guests on board. There will always be some time off, but it may be between very intense work periods.

Most crew jobs have an employment contract that meets the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC). This should spell out the contract period and duration, as well as salary, leave and time off, probationary periods, repatriation policies, and any other crucial details to meet the minimum international standards of crew welfare.

This contract should also contain shipboard policies on confidentiality and non-disclosures, drug and alcohol use on board, personal hygiene expectations, interpersonal relationships, and dispute resolution. Job expectations and requirements can also be included, with specific language about roles, tasks, and cooperation between divisions.

Note that all crew agreements will explicitly prohibit drug use on board, most limit alcohol consumption and ban hard liquor on board, and many boats have policies prohibiting intimate personal crew relationships. Because the crew is living on board full time and in close quarters, rules to maintain decorum and crew harmony may be in writing.

Training & Certificates

Two key certifications are required for yacht crew. Employers look for the STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers) and the ENG1 (Seafarer Medical Certificate). Insurers generally require crew to have these two certifications or the equivalent.

The ENG1 isn’t a class. It’s a medical exam to ensure that the crew is physically fit to serve at sea and has no underlying conditions that may arise far from help. It’s best for prospective crew to secure the ENG1 before investing more time and money training.

STCW is a week-long class on the basics of onboard safety. This includes hands-on modules covering personal survival, fire safety, first aid and CPR, accident prevention, and security awareness. It needs to be refreshed every five years.

Shared, Hybrid, and Crossover Jobs

Larger vessels will have more defined duties and specific areas of responsibility. But smaller yachts may want the crew to have different roles in different situations. For example, a hybrid job description may read “3rd Engineer/Steward” and describe a role in engineering when the boat is empty but on inside crew when passengers are on board.

When hiring or seeking jobs be prepared to look for creative crossover skill sets to meet the needs of the vessel.

Extra Skills and Duties

Any extra skills outside the regular duties makes crew more attractive. From stewards who can teach yoga, give massages or play cocktail piano to deck crew who know how to water ski, SCUBA dive, or fish, anything that crew can bring to enhance the passenger experience adds value to the employee.

If you’re looking for a position, list the skills you’d be comfortable using. If a vessel owner is looking for something specific, spell it out and figure out how that special duty fits into the employee work day.

The Four Main Divisions

Most yacht crews break into four primary divisions which group related tasks and responsibilities together. While the grouping sounds like it’s by section of the boat, they’re really more functional. For example, stewards (Interior) will definitely serve meals, whether they’re in the main dining room or out on deck. Deckhands (deck) are going to be involved in painting, sanding, and varnish jobs anywhere on the boat.

The deck crew handles most of the exterior operations of the yacht, and runs it. Deck hands and crew keep the boat looking clean and shiny, and handling most vessel operations. This includes driving and operating the yacht, navigation, running all launches and ship’s craft, handling lines, and all maintenance and painting, washing, and shining.

2-Interior (or Inside)

Inside crew are primarily the stewards and housekeepers. Larger vessels will have a dedicated housekeeping staff separate from the stewards, but smaller vessels may not.

Stewards keep the interior clean, do all housekeeping, laundry, food and beverage service, cabin preparation, and anything else needed for the comfort of the passengers.

3-Engineering

Below decks, the engineering department ensures the safe and smooth running of all the ship’s machinery and electronics. Engineers are engine and systems specialists, and there will usually be a dedicated electronics expert. Most engineer jobs require professional training and certification.

Fine dining is a hallmark of the yachting experience, and a full-time galley crew prepares all meals for passengers and crew. The head chef plans the menus and provisions the boat, while junior chefs assist the head chef with meal preparation and keeping the galley spotless.

Yacht Job and Department Details

Departments are all organized in a hierarchy, with a department head reporting to the Captain. The clear chain of command makes for smooth operations, with all communications going up and down ranks. Junior staff will occasionally take instructions from other divisions as all crew is expected to help as needed. A captain or department head may organize staff differently, so reporting structures listed are guidelines only.

All salary ranges are monthly figures and are ranges based on yacht size and crew experience. Senior jobs on larger yachts have more responsibility than the same job title on yachts with smaller crews. Experienced crew are very desirable and can expect more pay for their positions.

Listed responsibilities are not exhaustive, and different yachts may allocate some jobs to different positions.

Read also: The yacht charter experience ladder

The Captain

The captain of the vessel is the overall decision maker for the yacht in all situations, including the safety of the vessel. The owner should leave the Captain responsible for operational decisions about hiring and staff and operating the ship. To become a captain requires years of experience and training, and a broad set of skills including yacht operations, personnel management, budgeting and finance. The captain works directly with the owner and owner’s representative, if the captain is not also acting as the representative.

On an organization chart, the Captain is usually placed in the deck division, but the Captain is always the senior-most crew on the yacht and all division heads report to the Captain.

Responsibilities include:

• Responsible for all navigation and running the yacht.
• Senior decision maker on all crew hiring.
• Manage repairs, refits, and yard work.
• Manage budgets and accounting. On larger yachts, this task ends more on the Purser, but the captain is always responsible.
• Ensure all paperwork, clearances, and legal requirements are completed.
• Primary contact with the owner or charter parties.

Reports to: The yacht owner

Salary Range: $6,000 to $22,000

The deckhands handle all the outside responsibilities of the ship, including cleaning and maintenance of the yacht and all the ship’s vessels and toys on board. Deck crew will have significant contact with passengers in this role, operating launches and delivering guests to and from shore and handling the toys.

All deck crew have watch responsibilities on passage, and daily responsibilities keeping the yacht pristine and clean. They will also do line handling and secure the yacht.

Deck department : Chief Mate/First Officer

The Chief Mate or First Officer is the second in command of the vessel, and left in charge when the Captain is not on board. The first mate has the requisite skills to stand in for the captain and run the yacht if needed and usually acts as the division head of the deck team.

The seamanship skills needed are similar to the Captain’s position.

• Primary safety officer for the yacht and all passengers and crew.
• Supervise and manage all operations on deck.
• Bridge watches on passage.
• Passage planning and navigation.

There may be additional mates on larger vessels, these 2nd, 3rd, etc. mates have similar responsibilities on rotation. But the first mate is senior and always second in command.

Reports to: Captain

Salary Range: $4,000 to $9,500 (First mate)

Second and more junior mates may earn $2,000 to $4,000

Deck department : Bosun

The Bosun is the senior deckhand and manages the junior hands on board. This will usually be the most experienced hand on board.

• Organizing all operations on deck.
• Coordinating the use, storing and launching of the ship’s boats, toys, and equipment.
• Managing the passerelle, watching passenger safety.
• Contact point for guest service on boats, toys, and trips to shore.

Reports to: First mate

Salary Range: $3,000 to $5,000

Deck department : Deckhands

Deckhands are constantly busy with maintenance, cleaning, polishing, and assisting guests as needed. They will assist other departments as needed or given special duties.

• Daily cleaning of the yacht’s exterior.
• Painting, varnishing, polishing.
• Line handling.
• Launching and operating dinghies and tenders.
• Repairs and carpentry.
• Helping guests as needed – everything from handling baggage and gear to embarking and disembarking.

Reports to: Bosun

Salary range: $1,300 to $3,000

Though every position on a yacht is service-oriented, the interior or inside crew provides the primary customer service. They will interact the most with the passengers daily, and they’re directly responsible for the quality of their experience on board.

Interior department : the Purser

The purser is the chief financial officer of the yacht and handles all the financial operations on board. Accounting, purchasing, payroll and hiring, and all money matters end up with the Purser. This is a senior staff position, and may be the interior department head. Smaller yachts may eliminate the purser’s job and add it to the captain’s and other senior staff duties.

Responsibilities Include:

• Accounting and bookkeeping for all financial transactions.
• Human resources and payroll.
• Handling logistics for all departments related to purchasing.
• Managing contracts.
• Event coordination, including off yacht bookings and payments.
• Primary administration of the boat’s business paperwork.
• Inventory and supply management.

Salary Range: $4,000 to $8,000

Interior department : The Chief Steward/ess

The chief steward or stewardess has primary responsibility for all service roles inside. Food and drink service, cabin preparation, and anything to do with helping the passengers be more comfortable and enjoy their stay. The chief steward will be inside crew with several years of experience.

The chief steward manages the interior staff, setting and enforcing vessel service standards. The chief steward ensures the crew delivers a five-star hospitality experience.

Chief Steward Responsibilities:

• Scheduling and training junior crew for meal and drink service and cabin preparation.
• Primary contact with guests for meals and drinks.
• Sommelier and wine service.
• Coordinate with the galley for meals and presentation.
• Decorate the interior, from flower arrangement to table settings.
• Arrange onshore activities and outings.

Reports to: Captain or Purser, depending on the yacht

Salary Range: $4,000 to $8,500

Stewards/Stewardesses

The stewards and stewardesses are the primary guest service staff. They will work closely with guests and passengers, and have daily contact with them as they meet most of their needs while on board.

Steward Responsibilities:

• Food and drink service.
• Room preparation and turndown service.
• Cleaning, polishing, housekeeping, and inside maintenance.
• Cabin detailing.
• Laundry, pressing, and folding.
• Help with outings, trips, debarkations.

Reports to: Chief Steward

Salary Range: $1,500 to $4,500

Housekeeping

Larger yachts may have a dedicated housekeeping and laundry staff. This will be part of the inside crew, under either the purser or the head steward. There may be a senior housekeeper, if there are more than one housekeeping crew on board.

Responsibilities are the cleaning and laundry portions of the steward’s job, and a laundry steward may spend most of her time inside the ship’s laundry.

An experienced Head of Housekeeping may earn from $4,500 to $7,000, while a Laundry Steward typically earns from $2,500 to $3,500.

Read also: CAN OWNING A YACHT TO CHARTER (REALLY) BE PROFITABLE?

Food service requirements on any yacht are high. Whether it’s a privately owned vessel or a charter, the expectations are always for top tier food service, with a variety of meals planned for the requirements of every passenger. Chefs and cooks prepare all meals on board for passengers and crew, but sometimes other interior crew may help with prep work or cleanup.

Smaller yachts have smaller galley crews, but the largest vessels may have an executive chef and several sous chefs. All chef positions require formal culinary training and experience, but cook positions are often entry level. Promotion from cook to chef is unusual without additional training.

Galley department : the Head / Executive Chef

On larger yachts, an Executive Chef will run the entire galley with the help of sous chefs and cooks. With an Executive Chef, there’s an expectation that the food and menus will be on a level with Michelin star-rated restaurants.

The executive chef brings a thorough understanding of food preparation and presentation, and moves food preparation past creative up to artistic. Job responsibilities are similar to a chef, but the job demands and the required experience and education are much higher.

Salary range: $7,000 to $11,000

The chef has overall responsibility for all meals on the yacht, from provisioning in remote places to hygiene and good safety. If there’s only one chef, she’s the head of the galley crew. Finding the best provisions in far away locations and making the best of local food availability is a major part of the job.

• Planning a delicious and varied menu for passengers.
• Sourcing all food and arranging transport to the yacht.
• Maintaining and operating within the galley budget.
• Preparing passenger meals with professional presentation and style.
• Cleaning and maintaining galley and galley equipment.
• Deliver menus and meals on time, while running an organized and spotless galley.

Galley department : Sous Chef

The sous chefs assist the chef in all aspects of running the galley, and may have independent assignments to plan and guest and crew meals. While not primarily responsible for provisioning, the sous chef will help with food selection, menu preparation, and planning. A sous chef must have formal culinary training.

Reports to: Head chef

Salary Range: $3,500 – $6,000.

Galley department : The Cook

Cooks may be entry-level positions or experienced, but do not require formal gastronomy education. They will assist the chef and sous chefs, cooking meals and dishes for guests and crew, helping with provisioning, and keeping the galley neat.

• Assist with provisioning and buying high-quality food from local sources.
• Follow all food handling and safety guidelines.
• Assist the head chef as needed, taking direction and guidance.
• Prepare guest and crew meals as required.
• Staying on top of galley inventories and supplies.

Salary Range: $2,500 to $3,500

Engineering

The engineering department keeps the yacht and all its systems working. Whether it’s the engines, electronics, air conditioning, or the plumbing – it’s up to engineering to keep it running.

There is considerable overlap with commercial shipping in the engineering field, as many of the same skills apply. And there is a broader range of qualifications and grades based on the size and power of the vessel. Job ratings may be set by required experience based on tonnage of ship or power of engines, with corresponding levels of pay and responsibility.

Unlike commercial shipping, engineers may get involved in other aspects of running the yacht, like helping with docking and water sports with mechanical toys.

Engineering certifications, training, ratings, experience and licensing are critical to hiring competent engineers, and for engineering crew it’s an important facet of career advancement. This is important for Chief and 2nd Engineers, which are often broken out by MCA (U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency) rating or other international equivalent.

MCA ratings for engineers Commercial and Private Yachts over 24m are:

Y4: Less than 200 Gross Tons and less than 1,500 kW engine power Y3: Less than 500 GT and 3,000 kW Y2: Less than 3,000 GT and 3,000 kW Y1: Less than 3,000 GT and 9,000 kW

There is also an unlimited rating for merchant vessels larger than the Y1 category. For discussing salary and responsibilities, we will include all ratings in one position description, but pay scales with the size of the yacht and any required higher ratings.

Chief Engineer

The chief engineer manages all aspects of keeping the yacht and its systems running. The chief engineer manages all the engineering staff, and directs all maintenance, repairs, troubleshooting and upgrades. This is a management position, but requires extensive hands-on technical experience and knowledge. Chief engineers on large yachts hold an MCA Y1 or Y2, smaller boats will have a lower rated chief and a smaller staff. Check  Jooble.org  to find abroad marine engineer vacancies.

• Provisioning, shopping, and stocking.
• Preparing passenger and crew meals.
• Following instructions and cooking under the direction of others.
• Galley cleaning.
• Follow food safety and storage procedures.
• Food pre-preparation.

Salary Range: $6,000 to $15,000

2nd Engineer

The second engineer is also a highly skilled position requiring a rating or license and several years of experience. This senior level engineer also needs knowledge of how to troubleshoot and maintain all yacht systems.

• Maintain and manage all engineering operations.
• Hire, train and supervise all engineers.
• Project manage all upgrades and retrofits, including managing budgets, contracts, and suppliers.
• Coordinate maintenance schedule for the entire yacht around the usage and seasonal schedules.
• Maintain costs and accounting for engineering operations.
• Design and handle all safety operations.
• Set and maintain standards for operations and cleanliness in the engine room.

Reports to: Chief engineer

Salary Range: $5,500 – $10,000

OOW (Officer of the Watch) Engineer

The OOW is a junior engineering position, but still licensed. There are two categories of OOW – MEOL (Marine Engine Operator License) and the more junior AEC (Assistant Engine Course). The overall responsibilities are similar, working to support the senior engineers and handle independent assignments. The AEC rating is entry level for licensed crew, but has training and certification.

• Support the chief in all projects.
• Maintain a clean, safe engine room.
• Perform all maintenance, troubleshooting and repair tasks as needed.
• Support motorized water sports.
• Occasionally assist with other vessel operations, like line handling.

Reports to: Chief Engineer

Salary Range, MEOL: $4,500 to $6,000 Salary Range, AEC: $2,500 to $3,500

Electronics/Technology Officer (ETO)

The ETO takes responsibility for all audio-visual and information technology on board. Ensuring passengers have access to the internet, movies, television, and music is a primary responsibility. This position carries a fair amount of passenger interaction, and an ETO needs good troubleshooting skills to go with customer service skills.

• Ensure all audio/visual and entertainment systems are always available for passengers.
• Assist passengers with personal technology and ship systems as needed.
• Conduct regular maintenance and upgrades of the network, information, and A/V systems around passenger schedules.
• Assist other engineers as needed, especially with electronic systems.
• Contribute as needed with other departments for boat and passenger operations.

Salary Range: $4,000 to $9,000

Junior Engineer

This is a lower or entry level position for someone with engineering skills but without formal licensing or certification. The junior engineer will help with safety and cleanliness, and assist in any engineering tasks as needed. The ability to solve problems and fix things opens this spot for anyone capable and willing to do the job.

• Help with cleaning, maintenance, and safety functions.
• Help anywhere needed on the yacht.
• Assist senior engineers as needed, taking direction and following instructions exactly.
• Constantly develop skills.

Read also: IS BUYING A BOAT A BAD IDEA?

Whether you are a yacht owner or considering entering this dynamic industry with an established and reliable crew, it is essential to have an understanding of the yacht’s hierarchical structure, mission priorities, and salary expectations. By doing your research on the complexity of yachting before hiring your team, you can confidently select the right group of experienced and qualified professionals for your needs. Staying up-to-date on top industry trends and knowing the capabilities of each type of yacht crew position will enable you to make sound decisions that support a safe and cost-effective journey. With quality personnel at your helm, you can cruise unhindered in luxury and explore new destinations with peace of mind.

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How did the superyacht Bayesian sink? Experts say weather was just one factor

Divers searching for 6 missing people locate 5 bodies inside wrecked yacht's hull.

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A complicated search effort is underway deep beneath the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Italy, where a superyacht sank early Monday during a fierce storm. 

Dive crews are attempting to enter the wreck of the Bayesian, a 56-metre long British-flagged luxury vessel, which is sitting in some 50 metres of water near the Sicilian fishing village of Porticello.

Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew members on board were rescued. Divers searching for six people considered missing, including British businessman Mike Lynch, located five bodies inside the yacht's hull on Wednesday, and retrieved four of them from the water.

Searchers previously recovered the body of Recaldo Thomas, the ship's Canadian-Antiguan cook, in the water not far from where the Bayesian sank.  

• Diving team finds 5 bodies in Sicily yacht search
• Canadian dead, several others missing after superyacht capsizes off Sicilian coast

Questions have emerged about why a boat designed to handle severe weather sank so rapidly and whether or not some of its features could've been a factor in its demise. Maritime experts say investigations may, in time, reveal what led to the disaster.

"There needs to be an investigation as to why this happened, what went wrong and, you know, how to prevent it in the future cases," said Simon Boxall, an oceanographer and senior lecturer at the University of Southampton in England.

Canadian dead, others missing after superyacht sinks near Sicily

How did the bayesian sink so quickly.

Grainy footage from closed-circuit cameras on the shore broadcast on the website of the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper showed the Bayesian's majestic mast just before it disappeared. 

Karsten Borner, captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, which rescued the survivors who managed to get into a lifeboat, told The Associated Press he was close enough to be able to see the Bayesian as the storm came in.

"A moment later, she was gone," he said.

The survivors told the rescuers they went flat on the water "and were sunk in two minutes."

Boxall said vessels rely on being able to steer and navigate stormy seas, but the Bayesian was anchored and stationary, which likely made it more vulnerable to the storm and, potentially, a waterspout , or mini tornado that creates a whirlwind over the surface of the sea. 

He said it was also dark, meaning "you wouldn't see this sort of very unique event coming towards you."

CCTV footage shows yacht Bayesian as deadly storm strikes

"It's a freak of nature," Boxall said. "I think the fact that so many have survived, so far, is probably a miracle."

Tom Sharpe, a retired Royal Navy commander and defence commentator, told CBC News the weather was likely not the only issue.

He says it's rare that a weather event like this takes down a boat. 

"There's nearly always a sequence [of events]," he said in an interview from Guildford, England, explaining that everything from safety protocols to the culture on board the vessel needs to be taken into account. 

Was the boat's design part of the problem?

The Bayesian was built in 2008 by Italian luxury yacht maker Perini Navi.

Andrea Ratti, a nautical design professor at Milan Polytechnic, told Reuters that a boat the size of the Bayesian could only sink so rapidly by taking on a huge amount of water. 

He suggested that one or more portholes, windows or other openings may have been broken or smashed open by the waterspout, letting in water. There has also been media speculation that a major hatch might have been inadvertently left open.

Reports have also highlighted that the Bayesian featured a 72-metre mast — one of the tallest in the world. 

Ratti said an unusually tall mast is not by itself an element of vulnerability in a storm. 

A second expert, structural engineer Filippo Mattioni, was also skeptical about the suggestion the boat may have sunk due to a broken mast, which likely would have caused major damage smashing against the hull.

Fire department diver Marco Tilotta told the newspaper Il Messaggero that the wreck was "apparently intact," with "no gashes, no signs of impact." However, only half of the hull is visible to divers.

The Bayesian also had a retractable keel — the fin-like structure under the hull that helps stabilize boats and acts as a counterweight to the mast. 

Both Ratti and Mattioni wondered if the yacht had been anchored with the keel up, reducing the vessel's depth under water and making it less stable. Ratti said strong winds might have caused the boat to start oscillating wildly, "like a pendulum," putting exceptional strain on the mast.

Sharpe pointed out that a mast the size of the Bayesian's is designed for a massive sail, and without that sail raised and catching the wind, the gusts likely would've had a negligible impact on the aluminum pole.

• What we know about the capsized superyacht off the Sicilian coast

He instead suggested the anchor may have played a pivotal role.

"My kind of working assumption is that she was probably a bit further in at anchor, and it's very likely, in these sort of conditions, that her anchor dragged," he said. 

In such a situation, he said, a crew is better off steering toward the anchor to stabilize the vessel or raising the anchor and heading out to sea to ride out the storm.

"They might have got caught in that middle ground where they're not on a particularly good anchorage, but the anchor is now controlling the bow of the ship."

Sicily superyacht rescue: What divers are up against | About That

What caused the extreme weather.

Although Sharpe says the weather is unlikely the sole cause of the sinking, he notes the Mediterranean isn't the calm sea often pictured in travel brochures. 

"It can get pretty nasty," he said.

The type of storm that struck Monday is fuelled by warm water and the Mediterranean is warmer than ever, said Boxall, noting there's been about a three and a half degree increase in the 20-year average temperature.

'The ship behind us was gone,' says captain who rescued yacht passengers

Climatologists say global warming is making such violent and unexpected tempests more frequent. 

Luca Mercalli, president of Italy's meteorological society, said the sea surface temperature around Sicily in the days leading up to the shipwreck was about 30 C. 

"This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms," he told Reuters.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Senior Writer

Nick Logan is a senior writer with CBC based in Vancouver. He is a multi-platform reporter and producer, with a particular focus on international news. You can reach out to him at [email protected].

With files from The Associated Press and Reuters

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Fifth body recovered from Mike Lynch's Bayesian super yacht

A fifth body has been recovered by divers and the Italian coastguard from tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s super yacht in Sicily with one person still missing after the vessel capsized in a storm

• 08:09, 22 Aug 2024
• Updated 09:13, 22 Aug 2024

A fifth body has been recovered from tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s super yacht in Sicily.

Divers and members of the coastguard and fire service were seen transporting a body bag from the wreck site just before 9am local time. The grim discovery means five missing yacht guests have now been found, and one remains missing .

Six people, including Mr Lynch, were unaccounted for after the vessel – named Bayesian – sank at around 5am on Monday . Salvatore Cocina, the head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, confirmed that five bodies were found on Wednesday and the whereabouts of the missing sixth person remains unknown.

Four of those five bodies were retrieved yesterday and now the other has also been taken to the port while the search continues for the other person missing following the capsizing of the vessel in a storm.

Identities of the recovered bodies have not been confirmed officially by authorities with body bags having been seen as they were taken to the port of Porticello.

Among those also named as missing were Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo. The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the Bayesian superyacht, was recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday.

Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping onto a lifeboat. The captain of a yacht, the Sir Robert BP, who helped to rescue them, described how those aboard his vessel spotted the distress flare set off from a life raft.

Karsten Borner said his crew noticed the Bayesian had disappeared before a passenger spotted the flare. He told Sky News: “We couldn’t see them any more and they disappeared from the radar, we were busy keeping our own ship sailing. We couldn’t see the ship again so we were aware something was very wrong.”

He said it was only when the tender set out that they found the life raft. Mr Borner continued: “It turned out to be the life raft, a 12-person life raft with 15 people inside including one baby. They stepped over to our tender and we brought them back to our ship. There we took good care of them, gave them dry clothes, towels, blankets, tea and coffee and so on and took care of them.”

One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Emsley, held her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, above the waves to stop her from drowning. Dr Domenico Cipolla, of Di Cristina Children’s Hospital in Palermo where the mother and child were taken, said: “The child and the mother went to the hotel near Porticello on Tuesday, they are both in a good condition.

“Obviously the mother and the husband were so shaken by what has happened, it was a tragedy for them. She told me that two minutes after falling asleep with her baby they were in the water, she did not understand how this happened, it went dark. Her partner was not with her, he was in another room. She held the child high in her arms above the waves, for a few seconds the baby was in the water but she saved her. She sometimes cried for her friends in the hospital.”

A team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) arrived in Porticello on Wednesday to look at the site of the sinking. The Italian Coastguard said the MAIB is not involved in the search for the missing people, and it has not been requested to assist.

The ship’s captain, James Cutfield, was reportedly questioned by authorities for two hours as they began speaking to all crew members. A helicopter was previously drafted in to help the search effort, and divers from the local fire service have been seen entering the water with torches attached to their headgear. Fire crews from the Vigili del Fuoco said they have been accessing the vessel through natural entrances, without making openings.

Remotely controlled underwater vehicles have been used, with naval units and cave divers also taking part in the search, the Italian Coastguard has said. Bayesian was moored around half a mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank at about 5am local time on Monday as the area was hit by a storm. Vincenzo Zagarola, of the Italian Coastguard, previously said the missing tourists were feared dead.

The wreckage of the Bayesian is resting on the seabed off the coast at a depth of 50 metres (164ft). Fire crews described the operation as “complex”, with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts. Survivors have been recuperating at a hotel complex in Porticello, where authorities were gathering witness statements. The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a fraud case in the US.

The businessman, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard. The Financial Times reported that Mr Bloomer appeared at trial as a defence witness for Mr Lynch, while media reports suggest the pair are close friends. In a separate incident, Mr Lynch’s co-defendant in his US fraud trial, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.

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What is known about the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily and those aboard

Emergency services at the scene of the search for a missing boat, in Porticello, southern Italy, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. Rescue teams and divers returned to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht Tuesday to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull 50 meters (164-feet) underwater. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Salvatore Cavalli]

PORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts were searching Tuesday for six missing passengers and crew, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily.

The sleek yacht, named the Bayesian, was carrying a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers when it suddenly sank near the Mediterranean island that is part of Italy at about 4 a.m. on Monday. One body has been recovered and 15 people survived.

Fire rescue officials have said the six believed to remain in the sailboat’s hull will be considered missing until they are located in the wreckage.

Here’s what we know so far about the sinking and those who were on board.

What happened?

An Italian Firefighters helicopter flies over houses near the harbor of Porticello, southern Italy, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, as rescue teams and divers returned to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull 50 meters (164-feet) underwater. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Salvatore Cavalli

Italian civil protection officials believe a sudden and fierce storm that battered the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday whipped up a waterspout in the exact spot where the 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian was moored.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht moored nearby, said he saw the Bayesian during the storm but when the wild weather passed it was gone and he saw only a red flare lighting the night sky, the Italian news agency ANSA and the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported.

Borner and one of his crew boarded their tender and found a lifeboat carrying 15 people, some of them injured. They took them aboard their yacht and alerted the coast guard.

Rescue authorities said the wreck was resting at a depth of 50 meters (163 feet) about a half mile offshore of the picturesque fishing village of Porticello.

Who was on board?

Among the missing is 59-year-old tech tycoon Mike Lynch , sometimes described as the British Bill Gates. Lynch was acquitted in June of all charges in a U.S. fraud trial linked to the $11 billion sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Lynch still faced a potentially huge bill stemming from a civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven’t been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

A Cambridge-educated mathematician, Lynch made his name running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was reportedly among the missing. His wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 other people survived.

Among others still missing Tuesday, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo’s wife, Neda. Morvillo was regarded as an elite defense lawyer and was also a federal prosecutor in New York after 9/11.

Also missing was Jonathan Bloomer, the non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy. He is the former head of the Autonomy audit committee and testified for the defense at Lynch’s trial.

Bloomer was also chair of the Hiscox Group, an insurer that does business on the Lloyd’s of London market.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event,” Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain said in a statement.

Among the survivors was Charlotte Golunski, who said she momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to grab her and hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, ANSA reported. The father, identified by ANSA as James Emslie, also survived.

The Dutch foreign ministry said a Dutch man survived. The ministry, citing privacy, did not release his identity.

One body was recovered on Monday, identified as the on-board chef.

What is the Bayesian?

The Bayesian was a luxury yacht built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Nav. It was known for its single 75-meter (246-feet) aluminum mast — one of the world’s tallest. Online charter sites listed it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $215,000) a week.

Its registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd., based on the Isle of Man, according to online maritime database Equasis. Lynch’s wife is listed as Revtom’s sole owner, according to corporate registration documents from the Isle of Man.

The yacht’s name is an apparent reference to “Bayesian inference,” one of the two main approaches to statistical machine learning and the one that was used by Autonomy.

What is a waterspout?

Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water and can happen when a storm moves across warm water.

According to the U.S. National Ocean Service, there are two types of waterspouts — fair-weather and tornadic.

Tornadic waterspouts “have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning,” the service says on its website.

While scientists haven’t attributed the specific event to climate change, average monthly surface temperatures have been at record highs for months . Hotter air can hold more moisture, making heavier storms more likely.

Sicily has been baking under intense heat this summer , and the United Nations’ panel of climate change experts notes the Mediterranean Sea is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with warming rates roughly 20% higher than the global average.

How rare is it for a huge sailboat like this to capsize?

Experts say it is extraordinarily rare for a luxury sailboat of this size to capsize due to weather events.

“This just doesn’t happen. You know, boats sink because things like keels fall off, or they run aground and breach the hull … whereas just from a weather angle, a boat that big being pushed over on its side is absolutely extraordinary,” said Skip Novak, a lifelong sailor who has taken part in multiple round the world yacht races and written books about sailing.

Novak said he believed that strong gusts likely pushed the yacht over 90 degrees to its side, and the vessel did not recover because of the weight of the huge mast and because it was anchored. He suggested that internal doors were likely not closed, and water quickly poured in to sink the vessel.

“When you’re at anchor, even if it’s blowing with a storm in the Mediterranean, you rarely shut the whole boat down because nobody expects something like this to happen,” Novak told The Associated Press. “So if the boat wasn’t completely watertight at the deck, you’d have flooding going in. It would take a couple minutes and that would be it.”

What happens next?

As the search for the missing continues, authorities already have begun trying to piece together exactly what happened.

Prosecutors from the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation, as is normal in such events even when no suspects are identified. To date, they have not commented publicly.

The British Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four of its inspectors were being deployed to Palermo.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Mike Lynch among missing after yacht sinks off Sicily

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Mike Lynch, one of the UK’s best-known tech entrepreneurs, is among those missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in bad weather.

Lynch, the former chief executive of Autonomy, was acquitted of criminal charges by a jury in San Francisco in June, vindicating the 59-year-old entrepreneur after a 12-year legal battle over the software group’s $11bn sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Among the passengers on Lynch’s 56-metre yacht Bayesian were members of his legal team and their families, who had been invited on the trip to celebrate the courtroom victory.

Jonathan Bloomer, chair of insurance group Hiscox and Morgan Stanley International, who appeared at the trial as a witness for the defence, was also on board and is one of those missing, according to local Italian authorities and people familiar with the matter.

Hiscox chief executive Aki Hussain said the company was “deeply shocked and saddened” by events. “Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation.”

Christopher Morvillo of law firm Clifford Chance, who represented Lynch, is also missing. Six guests in total are missing and one member of the crew is confirmed dead.

Another Clifford Chance lawyer, Ayla Ronald, was among 15 of the 22 guests and crew who the authorities said were rescued from the stricken vessel.

Lynch ’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah is also missing while his wife Angela Bacares was rescued.

Video description

The search operation near Palermo following the sinking of the yacht Bayesian

The yacht incident came on the same day as the death was confirmed of Lynch’s co-defendant in the US fraud case, Stephen Chamberlain, who was hit by a car in Cambridgeshire.

Gary Lincenberg, an attorney who represented Chamberlain in the case, said Autonomy’s former vice-president of finance, whom he described as a “courageous man with unparalleled integrity”, had been fatally struck by a car while out running on Saturday.

Following the courtroom verdict, Lynch had said he was “elated” and was “looking forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field”.

David Yelland, a communications adviser who worked with Lynch, said: “To think Mike Lynch might have lost his life just as he began to rebuild it is devastating for all those that know him. His entire life is one of beating the odds in the most extraordinary of situations, we must pray he does so again.” 

A spokesperson for Lynch declined to comment.

The Italian coast guard said Bayesian sank to a depth of approximately 50 metres off the coast of Palermo.

Giuseppe D’Agostino, mayor of Santa Flavia, a village on the coast close to where the vessel sank, said the search had not stopped. “The community is shaken. Everyone is helping,” he told the Financial Times.

“I spoke to some survivors. They are shocked. They didn’t have the strength to speak,” he added.

Another survivor was Charlotte Golunski, a partner at Lynch’s venture firm Invoke Capital, along with her husband James Emsilie and one-year-old daughter. She told Italian media that her family had left their cabin during the storm and headed for the deck.

Records indicate that Lynch’s family-owned the yacht. Bayesian is owned by Isle of Man-registered company Revtom Limited, according to shipping database Equasis. Isle of Man filings show that Bacares is the sole shareholder of Revtom.

The Sunday Times rich list estimated Lynch’s family fortune at £500mn earlier this year.

The name Bayesian is likely to be a reference to the 18th-century English statistician Thomas Bayes, whose theory of statistics informed the search technology behind Autonomy’s software.

The yacht had been anchored at the small Italian island of Panarea, according to MarineTraffic, a boat tracking site. It then passed through the Aeolian Islands on its way to Palermo before being hit by what has been described as a “tornado”.

Luca Cari, a spokesperson for the Italian fire department, said divers and other rescue workers had been working at the scene since Monday morning.

“We arrived when the ship had already sunk,” he said, adding that the operation was complicated by the depth to which the boat had sunk. Cari said the body had been recovered outside the shipwreck. He declined to identify the victim.

The UK’s Department for Transport said the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch was deploying a team of four inspectors to Palermo to conduct a “preliminary assessment into the foundering”. The UK will lead the investigation because the vessel was flying the British flag.

Additional reporting by Michael Acton, Robert Wright, Robert Smith, Joshua Franklin, Jim Pickard and Ian Smith

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A superyacht captain shares 3 things people who want to charter a luxury vessel should know

• Vacationing on a superyacht may sound like it's all Champagne and sunbathing.
• But before boarding a luxury vessel, superyacht captain Kelly Gordon advises keeping certain things in mind.
• Yachting is a summer pastime with risks and nuances for clients and crew.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez soaking up the sun. Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian's wedding . Beyoncé's carefree jump into the ocean.

One of these images is likely what comes to mind when you hear the word "superyacht," a phrase generally used to describe a yacht over 80 feet in length.

While ultra-luxurious vessels are associated with all things carefree, tragic events such as the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht off the coast of Sicily on Monday is a reminder that yachting is a pastime with unique risks and nuances. It's unclear what the protocols were on the Bayesian.

For those keen on the idea of chartering a superyacht, captain Kelly Gordon, 42, told Business Insider there are a number of important factors to consider before hopping on board.

Gordon fell in love with yachting after she stepped aboard a yacht for the first time in her mid-20s.

Hellbent on reaching captain level, Gordon quickly worked her way up the chain of command. She's spent most of her time sailing the Bahamas and the Caribbean and is now based in Florida, where she works as a captain on a 108-foot-long privately owned vessel.

Gordon, who has over 12,600 followers on Instagram , shares three factors to keep in mind before boarding a chartered superyacht.

Think of the process of chartering a superyacht as buying a house

One of the most important things to do when chartering a superyacht is to work with a charter broker, Gordon says.

"The charter manager's job is to No. 1: find you a safe boat," Gordon said, adding that in her experience, "Not all programs put safety as high up on the list as it should be."

She also likes to equate charter brokers to Realtors in that they take on the role of finding you the best option for your taste.

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"You find one that you gel with really well and has a good reputation, and then you discuss with them what your budget is, where you want to go, what your activity levels are, what your personalities are like," Gordon said.

Pairing clients with a crew that aligns with their characteristics is a huge part of a charter broker's job, Gordon said.

"If you think about it, you're living with that crew for 24/7, around the clock," she said. "You're not going put someone that just wants to sit and read books all day with a crew that's extremely active."

Find a crew that is competent and prioritizes safety

Charter brokers also help match clients with a competent crew that prioritizes safety.

"I don't know that many people realize just how much their life is in our hands when we cast those lines and we go to sea," Gordon said.

Part of that is having a safety briefing, which Gordon carries out every time she welcomes clients onto a chartered vessel before leaving a dock.

A thorough safety briefing includes informing clients about the location of safety equipment and lifejackets and the procedures for events such as a fire, a person falling overboard, or the boat sinking.

"You should have a safety briefing, and if you don't get one, you should ask for one," Gordon said.

The process, she added, can be different on privately owned yachts, where passengers may be familiar with the vessel.

The Bayesian is a private yacht owned by tech tycoon Mike Lynch; it's not yet known what kind of safety protocols staff and guests were trained on.

Make sure there's a member of the crew on watch 24/7

"A lot of charter guests think when they go to sleep, the crew goes to sleep," Gordon said.

But that shouldn't be the case, she added. "You want to be on a boat knowing that someone's up, because if the weather changes or the anchor starts to drag, you need somebody that's up and ready to go and get everybody else to handle it."

Among the biggest weather risks are tornados, which can be extremely difficult to predict and prepare for whether you're on land or at sea.

"I'm from the Midwest, where tornados pop up," Gordon said. "It's hard to see a tornado coming, and if you do see it coming, the tornado goes where it wants to go."

Most often, that leaves people near the weather event with just minutes to ready themselves, which is even trickier "in the middle of the night."

While rapid changes in weather are tough to contend with, Gordon recommends researching the areas you are sailing in beforehand, like you would when visiting a new country.

"It's no different than if you're going on vacation on land," she said. "You want to know where you're going. Don't put that just all on the crew."

While the research doesn't have to be as extensive as the crew should be doing, it's important to still be "responsible for your own self as well as your family and your guests."

Watch: Why it costs $1 million a day to run one of the world's biggest cruise ships

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Families cling to hope as remote-controlled vehicles join search for superyacht survivors

Remote-controlled underwater vehicles were on Wednesday joining specialist divers in a third day searching for the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and others missing from the Bayesian superyacht as loved ones clung to the slimmest hopes of life.

The underwater vehicles were being used to assist divers seeking to clear a route past scattered furniture and other debris that has so far blocked access to cabins of the vessel lying 50 metres below the sea off the coast of Sicily .

Only one body had so far been recovered near the yacht , believed to be that of Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan chef who was working onboard. But the absence of others left faint hopes still lingering of a miracle survival. Mr Lynch and the five others were still unaccounted for since a “black swan” waterspout engulfed and sank the entrepreneur’s luxury yacht in the early hours of Monday.

The others missing are Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, the chairman of Morgan Stanley International bank Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and the Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his jewellery designer wife Neda.

Search crews today arrived at 6.30am local time, with a boat carrying divers seen leaving the port of Porticello at around 10.30am. Fire crews said they were accessing the yacht through natural entrances.

Italian coastguard teams were reportedly expecting to find bodies once divers finally manage to enter the yacht, which was moored when it was struck by a storm triggered by extreme heat in the Mediterranean. But amid speculation that the angle the sunken vessel is lying on the seabed could have helped to leave air pockets inside its cabins, the lack of any confirmation of further deaths led one expert to suggest that survivors might yet be found.

Dr Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a senior lecturer in mechanical, biomedical and design engineering at Aston University, said the next few hours would be “crucial” to find survivors trapped inside.

“The speed at which the vessel sank (a few minutes, according to survivor and witness accounts) and the fact that it remains intact and on its side could favour the formation of small air pockets inside,” he said.

“This is obviously highly speculative and impossible to predict accurately.”

Jeremy Bloomer, Jonathan Bloomer’s twin brother, told the BBC: “It’s a slow process and it will take time. So there might be air pockets, but we don’t know. It’s still wait and see, so fingers crossed.” Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coastguard cautioned that despite the remote possibility of survival, the six missing tourists were feared dead.

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Asked about the likelihood of them being alive, he said: “Never say never, but reasonably the answer should be not.” He told the PA news agency: “We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea.”

As today’s search continued, experts from the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch were in Sicily to help Italian counterparts work out why the superyacht sank. Theories include the possibility that its hatches were left open because of the extreme heat, allowing water to flood in during the storm and topple the yacht.

Other speculation centred on the 72m height of the yacht’s aluminium mast, which reportedly snapped, and whether its weight and size played a part in destablising the vessel. Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 — including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares — were rescued after escaping onto a lifeboat.

The Mirror reported Ms Bacares was in a “state of shock and sadness” as she awaited news of her husband. She has reportedly been joined by the couple’s elder daughter who was not aboard the boat.

Mr Lynch, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of fraud relating to the $11 billion (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard. The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal.

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Money Report

Morgan Stanley International chair among 6 missing after luxury yacht sinks in Sicily

By jenni reid,cnbc • published august 20, 2024 • updated on august 20, 2024 at 8:50 am.

• The chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer, is among those missing after a luxury yacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily on Monday, Sicily's civil protection agency said.
• British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were also missing, as search and rescue efforts resumed Tuesday.
• The 56-meter (184 feet) sailing boat Bayesian was hit by a violent storm around 4 a.m. local time on Monday, as it carried 10 crew members and 12 passengers on board.

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The chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer, British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and four others are missing after a luxury yacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily.

Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Bloomer's wife Judy, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda were missing as difficult search and rescue efforts resumed Tuesday.

One person, the ship's cook, was confirmed by the Italian coast guard to have died. Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 people who were rescued.

Bloomer is the chair of Morgan Stanley International, the London-based branch of the investment banking giant, a nonexecutive role he has held since 2016. He is also the chair of insurance firm Hiscox.

Aki Hussain, group chief executive officer of Hiscox, said Bloomer and his wife Judy were both among those missing.

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"We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event," Hussain said in a statement. A Morgan Stanley spokesperson said, "Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular the Bloomer family, as we all wait for further news from this terrible situation."

Morvillo is a partner at Clifford Chance based in New York, and recently represented Lynch in a landmark trial over allegations made against him by  Hewlett Packard . Lynch was acquitted in June.

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A Clifford Chance spokesperson said: "We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident. ... Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident. Our thoughts extend to the other passengers and crew and all those affected."

‘Britain’s Bill Gates’: Who is Mike Lynch, the UK tech entrepreneur missing after superyacht sinks?

The 56-meter (184 feet) sailing yacht Bayesian was hit by a violent storm around 4 a.m. local time on Monday, as it carried 10 crew members and 12 passengers on board. The anchored vessel capsized near the port of Porticello, with witnesses telling local media that the boat descended rapidly after its mast broke.

In a statement Tuesday, Italian emergency services said divers had accessed the inside of the wreck of the ship on Monday evening. Operations were complicated because of obstacles and narrow access points, they said, adding it was not possible to verify the presence of the missing individuals through cabin portholes.

Operations are now being planned to open access points to the cabins.

Renato Schifani, president of the region of Sicily, on Monday visited the children's hospital in Palermo in Italy to see a British 1-year-old girl and her parents who were all rescued from the ship.

"My thoughts go to all the people involved and their families, but today we are also here to testify that the solidarity and commitment of our health workers and Civil Protection volunteers are a precious resource for our community," Schifani said in a statement, according to a Google translation.

Many of those on board were employees and associates of Lynch, the 59-year-old founder of enterprise software firm Autonomy.

Lynch was embroiled in a protracted legal battle  with  Hewlett Packard  after the U.S. tech giant accused him of inflating Autonomy's value in an $11 billion sale. He was extradited from Britain to the U.S.  last year to stand trial over the HP allegations.

Lynch was acquitted of fraud charges  after a three-month trial. The boat trip was a celebration of Lynch's acquittal, according to various media reports.

Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy's former vice president of finance and Lynch's co-defendant in the trial who was also acquitted, reportedly died after being hit by a car while jogging in Cambridgeshire, England, on Saturday.

"Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family," his lawyer said in a statement to the BBC.

— CNBC's Ryan Browne contributed to this story.

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This article tagged under:

Who was on superyacht that sank off Sicily?

Twenty-two people were on board the Bayesian superyacht including British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, his wife and 18-year-old daughter, and Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer.

Thursday 22 August 2024 09:42, UK

Details have emerged of the 22 people who were on board the superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily.

The British-flagged vessel named Bayesian was carrying 12 passengers and 10 members of crew when it got into difficulty in the early hours of Monday.

Six people are now confirmed to have died, with one still missing. The other 15 people on board were rescued.

Here's what we know about those who were on the yacht.

Follow latest updates on the superyacht sinking

British technology tycoon Mike Lynch was among the original six people missing. On Thursday, divers confirmed his body had been recovered.

Raised in Ilford, east London by Irish parents, the 59-year-old made millions with the software company Autonomy he set up in 1996.

He had an estimated net worth of £852m, according to the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List, and is believed to have owned the yacht.

Off the back of Automomy's global success, Mr Lynch was given the roles of science adviser to former prime minister David Cameron and non-executive director of the BBC.

The Cambridge maths and sciences graduate sold the firm for £8.64bn to US giant Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011.

Dubbed the "British Bill Gates", Mr Lynch has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case related to the sale of Autonomy to HP in 2011.

HP accused him of deliberately overstating the value of the company before it was acquired by the American technology firm. Mr Lynch denied any wrongdoing.

In June, a US jury cleared him of all charges .

Read more: Lynch's co-defendant dies days before yacht disaster

Hannah Lynch

Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch was on board and is still missing.

She was on holiday with her parents, having secured a place to study English at the University of Oxford, according to reports.

Her former school, Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, west London, said they are "incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic incident".

Angela Bacares

Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares was on board the yacht and was rescued.

The 57-year-old said she and Mr Lynch were awoken by the boat "tilting" at 4am - half an hour before it sank.

Jonathan Bloomer

Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley International, was confirmed dead on Thursday.

According to the Financial Times, Mr Bloomer appeared as a defence witness for Mr Lynch during his US criminal trial and the pair were good friends. He also chaired Autonomy's audit committee.

The 70-year-old was the chief executive of UK-Hong Kong insurer Prudential until he was ousted by the board in 2005.

He was also chairman of the insurance provider Hiscox.

Judy Bloomer

Mr Bloomer's wife Judy was on the yacht trip with her husband. Divers confirmed they found her body on Thursday.

Mrs Bloomer was a former board member at The Eve Appeal charity, which focuses on gynaecological cancers.

The charity described her as a "brilliant champion for women's health and medical research... an incredible supporter, committee member, and trustee of our charity for over 20 years".

Read more: 'Alarming' potential cause of superyacht disaster What we know about superyacht that sank

Recaldo Thomas

The yacht's on-board chef Recaldo Thomas died in the sinking.

He was Canadian-Antiguan and part of the crew of the Bayesian.

His body was the first to be recovered from the wreckage.

Chris Morvillo

US lawyer Chris Morvillo was among those divers found dead on Thursday.

The father-of-two worked on Mr Lynch's US fraud trial and was a partner of law firm Clifford Chance's US branch.

Mr Morvillo was assistant attorney for the Southern District of New York between 1995 and 2005 and worked on the terrorist investigation into the 9/11 attacks.

In a recent LinkedIn post, he thanked the legal team that helped win Mr Lynch's trial.

Signing off the post, he said: "And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.

"None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. And they all lived happily ever after…."

Neda Morvillo

Mr Morvillo's wife Neda died in the disaster alongside her husband.

The 57-year-old had a luxury jewellery brand, which she ran under her maiden name Neda Nassiri.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Ayla Ronald

Ayla Ronald, a senior associate at Clifford Chance, survived the yacht disaster, the law firm confirmed.

The 36-year-old worked alongside Chris Morvillo in helping defend Mike Lynch in court.

Clifford Chance said in a statement: "Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident."

She is originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, but lives in London, her father told local media there.

He said she was left "very shaken" but "she and her partner are alive".

Charlotte Golunski

Charlotte Golunski was on board the yacht and was rescued along with her one-year-old daughter, Sofia.

She spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, confirming she survived the yacht sinking and told how she kept her daughter alive after she was rescued.

"I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning," she said.

"It was all dark. In the water I couldn't keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others."

The 35-year-old is a partner at one of Mr Lynch's firms - Invoke Capital - and has worked there since 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She also worked at Hewlett Packard, which acquired Autonomy in 2011, for 11 months.

Before that, she studied history at the University of Oxford.

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James Emsley

Ms Golunski's partner James Emsley was also rescued from the yacht, according to Sicily's civil protection agency.

The 36-year-old is the father of her one-year-old daughter.

James Calfield

The 51-year-old captain of the yacht spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica after he was rescued.

Mr Calfield, from New Zealand, was taken for treatment at the Termini Imerese emergency unit, where he told the newspaper: "We didn't see it coming."

Leah Randall

Leah Randall was part of the Bayesian crew and survived the sinking.

She was pictured going ashore in Porticello on Monday morning and is from South Africa.

Her mother Heidi told Sky News said she was "beyond relieved that my daughter's life was spared by the grace of God".

"It doesn't make it any easier living with the heartache of those who have lost their lives [or are] missing. My very deepest condolences to the chef's family as they formed a great friendship," she said.

Katja Chicken

Katja Chicken was another South African member of crew on board the Bayesian and was pictured being brought to safety in Porticello on Monday.

The Italian coastguard confirmed on Tuesday evening that Leo Eppel, a crew member, also survived the yacht sinking.

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