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Breaking news, all about the $40m bayesian yacht that capsized, leaving 6 dead and 1 still missing.
The massive superyacht Bayesian that sank off the coast of Italy on Monday won numerous awards for its sleek interior design — and was sold to its original owner for nearly $40 million.
The luxury sailing ship was carrying 22 people when it capsized and sank during a fierce storm early Monday.
The bodies of five of six missing passengers, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch , 69, have been recovered. His daughter, 18-year-old Hannah, is the only one of six known killed in the tragedy yet to be found, a source close to the rescue operation told Reuters.
The ship’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, has also been confirmed dead.
Divers continued searching the wreckage of the 184-foot-long, British-flagged vessel, previously called Salute, on Wednesday after discovering four of the bodies.
When it was built in 2008, the Bayesian had the tallest aluminum mast in the world, standing at 237 feet, earning it the award for best exterior styling at the World Superyacht Awards in 2009, the Telegraph reported.
The sprawling superyacht’s interior, decorated with sleek, minimalist furnishings created by Remi Tessier, has also won numerous awards.
The ship, which accommodated 12 guests, had a master bedroom and three double and two twin bedrooms.
It also featured beige sofas, dark wood furnishings, and a teak deck equipped with a large canvas awning to keep guests cool, according to the outlet.
Some of the ship’s styling, including thin brown pillars and miniature terra cotta sculptures, was inspired by Japanese culture.
What to know after a tornado sank the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily:
- A superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing seven passengers.
- British tech tycoon Mike Lynch was identified as one of the bodies pulled from the wreckage. His teenage daughter, Hannah, was the final one to be recovered.
- Lynch — known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — had invited guests from Clifford Chance, a legal firm that represented him, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage, according to the Telegraph .
- Security camera footage shot from 650 feet from where the Bayesian sank Monday shows it disappearing.
- A rare and unexpected “black swan” weather event may have led to the Bayesian’s speedy demise , maritime experts say.
The extravagant ship won best interior at the International Superyacht Society Awards in 2008 and was also voted one of the best large sailing yachts at the 2009 World Superyacht Awards, according to the outlet.
The yacht’s original owner, John Groenewoud, a Dutch real estate developer, reportedly bought the ship for £30 million ($39 million) when it was built. In 2014, he sold the ship with an asking price of £27 million ($35 million).
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The Bayesian is currently owned by Revtom, a company that listed Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, as its legal owner.
It was named after the Bayesian statistical model that helps financial investors calculate risk — the subject of Lynch’s PhD that later helped him build his empire.
The vessel, operated by yachting company Camper & Nicholsons, had twin 965hp MTU engines, which gave it a range of 3,600 nautical miles at 13 to 15 knots (14 to 17 mph).
RSB Rigging carried out rig service works on the ship with Astilleros de Mallorca, a shipyard facility in Palma, in November 2016.
The Bayesian returned in September 2020 for scheduled service works, including having its mast removed and reinstalled.
Steve Branagh, managing director of RSB Rigging, told the Telegraph: “At this time, our deepest sympathies go out to the friends and families of all those affected by this dreadful tragedy.”
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Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni, additional reporting by Giulia Segreti, Alvise Armellini, Matteo Negri and Josephine Mason in London; Editing by Sharon Singleton
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Superyacht sinks latest: Investigators looking into possible manslaughter - Italian media
Divers have recovered the body of the final missing person after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily. The family of Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah have released a statement - with tributes also pouring in for the pair.
Friday 23 August 2024 22:57, UK
- Superyacht sinking
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- Seven bodies recovered after five-day search of superyacht wreckage off Sicily
- Prosecutors investigating shipwreck and manslaughter - reports
- Divers discover body of final missing person
- 'Unspeakable grief': Lynch family releases statement
- Hannah Lynch's sister pays tribute to 'my little angel'
- Friend pays tribute to 'brilliant mind' Mike Lynch
- Explained: Inside the superyacht | What challenges have faced divers?
- Eyewitness: Sombre scenes greet rescue teams as final body is brought ashore
We're pausing our coverage for tonight but here is a recap of what we know:
- The final body was found and recovered from the wreckage of the sunken Bayesian;
- Hannah Lynch, 18-year-old daughter of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, was the only person still unaccounted for;
- Tributes have flooded in for the teenager, including from her older sister Esme Lynch;
- Oxford University, where Hannah was set to start studying English next month, also sent condolences;
- Authorities will now switch to a methodical and meticulous "investigation mode", marine investigator James Wilkes told Sky News;
- He also said it was "unfair" to start blaming the crew of the Bayesian for its sinking before facts could be established;
- Italian authorities are expected to reveal further information about their investigation tomorrow morning in a news conference.
Italian authorities are expected to reveal further information about their investigation tomorrow in a news conference.
Prosecutors in the town of Termini Imerese, near where the Bayesian superyacht went down, will begin the news conference at 9am UK time.
Search and rescue teams finished their task of searching for those uncounted for from the Bayesian's sinking today.
Divers have spent all week searching the shipwreck, looking for six people missing after the vessel foundered on Monday morning.
Of those six, all but one had been found by this morning. At around 11am UK time, the final body, believed to be that of 18-year-old Hannah Lynch, was discovered.
It was brought to shore shortly after, signalling an end to five days of intense search operations.
Below, we have a look at some images from the operation today as it unfolded:
The speed at which the Bayesian sunk is "puzzling" and testimony from the crew will be "absolutely fundamental" in understanding how it happened, says the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sailing Technology.
Dr Jean-Baptise Souppez, an expert in mechanical, biomedical and design engineering, told Sky News a vessel like the Bayesian "shouldn't sink that fast".
"For a ship that size to go down in a matter of minutes is particularly puzzling," he said.
"I think it's important to remember that all these vessels are built to very strong rules and regulations. And one of the reasons this is so puzzling is because those rules should ensure that this doesn't happen."
Investigations into the ship's foundering are already beginning to get underway, where the evidence supplied by survivors will be crucial, according to Dr Souppez.
"A lot of the job will be to try to establish a timeline of what happened prior to the events, in terms of the storm warning and what measures were taken on the vessel," he adds.
"What happened during the crucial minute? From the moment the ship started to lean on its side up until it sank. For this, the accounts from the survivors and the crew will be absolutely fundamental.
"But it will also be a lot of physical evidence from the wreck that the divers have been able to collect, and more that they will be able to observe in the future."
A maritime investigator says the first priority of the Bayesian's crew would likely have been to prepare the ship for the oncoming storm, rather than wake all sleeping passengers.
James Wilkes said the watchkeeper on the yacht "might have considered" waking captain James Cutfield, who he "imagines would have been asleep" at the time.
"He would go down, wake him up, explain what he's got," Mr Wilkes told Sky News.
"The master then would take over. He would make the decisions about raising the rest of the crew, if they're going to lift the anchor and start the engines, motor the vessel out pointed into the weather, that would require all the crew.
"And I should imagine they would have also briefed some or all of the passengers. But their first priority would have been to get the vessel ready to take on the weather that was approaching."
Mr Wilkes added that those steps were likely taken but "by the sounds of it", the Bayesian was overwhelmed by the weather incredibly quickly.
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch was among the people who died following the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht on Monday morning.
The vessel had arrived off the coast of Sicily on Sunday, remaining at anchor 500m from the port of Porticello overnight.
At around 3.50am local time, a violent storm sent chairs and tables into the wind on the shore, while a mini-tornado known as a waterspout is believed to have ripped through the Bayesian.
Fifteen passengers and crew members made it onto a life raft and were picked up by a nearby boat, with seven people unaccounted for from the initial 22 on the ship's manifest.
All seven were found and recovered over the following days. They are believed to be:
Divers confirmed the entrepreneur's body had been recovered yesterday.
Dubbed the "British Bill Gates", Mr Lynch has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case related to the £8.64bn sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (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 .
Hannah Lynch
Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter was also on board. A body believed to be that of the teenager was found and recovered from the wreckage today.
She had been on holiday with her parents, having secured a place to study English at the University of Oxford.
Her older sister, Esme Lynch, said her younger sibling was "endlessly caring, passionately mad, unintentionally hilarious and the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me".
Chris Morvillo
US lawyer Chris Morvillo was among those found dead by divers yesterday.
The father-of-two worked on Mr Lynch's US fraud trial and was a partner of law firm Clifford Chance's US branch.
He was also assistant attorney for the Southern District of New York between 1995 and 2005 and worked on the terrorist investigation into the 9/11 attacks.
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.
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.
Jonathan Bloomer
Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley International, was confirmed dead yesterday.
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 yesterday.
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".
More tributes have come in now for Mike Lynch, whose body was recovered from the Bayesian yesterday.
Close friend of the Lynch family Albert Read called him "warm, funny, brilliant, loyal and exceptionally brave".
"I've never met anyone like Mike - a searing intellect, a steel that would transform the world around him, an instinct for family and friends - organising children's treasure hunts, big gatherings of neighbours in Suffolk.
"And, with Angela, a determination to light up the worlds of art and science for his two beloved daughters.
"Warm, funny, brilliant, loyal and exceptionally brave, with a heart as big as his brain."
The final body has now been retrieved from the wreckage of the Bayesian, leaving every person accounted for who was on the ship at the time of its foundering.
The captain of the yacht, 51-year-old James Cutfield, has reportedly already been questioned by Italian authorities for two hours.
He managed to survive the sinking along with 14 other passengers and crew members - including Mike Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares.
Mr Cutfield previously told Italian media "we didn't see it coming" when asked about the extreme weather that sunk the vessel.
His brother Mark said he was a "well respected" mariner who had captained luxury yachts for eight years and previously worked for a Turkish billionaire.
He told the New Zealand Herald he'd been involved in building yachts for 30 years and also raced dinghies competitively in his youth.
A maritime investigator says it is "unfair" to start blaming the crew of the Bayesian for its sinking.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns a firm which makes and sells vessels like Mike Lynch's sunken superyacht, told Sky News they "are absolutely safe", suggesting human error was behind the boat going down.
He said the "event" that capsized the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, on Monday "could have been managed with an average amount of attention".
No official cause has been given for why the boat sank and James Wilkes, a marine investigator, says it's "premature" to start casting blame around before the facts are established.
"It's not uncommon to blame seafarers and the crew when a vessel has suffered a casualty of this magnitude," he tells Sky News.
"There were a lot of people who are understandably upset about this incident. And of course, the builders of this vessel potentially have their reputations on the line, their brand on the line.
"You can imagine why they would be so forceful in their assertions and speculation at the moment.
"But no, I don't think it's fair right now to jump to the conclusion that the crew must have done something wrong, because we simply do not know that as a matter of fact."
He added: "None of us were there at the time when it happened, it was only those 15 survivors on board who can tell us what happened.
"They were undoubtedly doing what they possibly could to keep that ship and the passengers safe.
"So, I think at the moment we should wait to find out what the statements of the witnesses are, and then we can draw conclusions from that point forward.
"It is definitely premature to start casting blame and spreading aspersions around like that."
Hannah Lynch's older sister, Esme Lynch, has paid tribute to her late sibling after her body was recovered from the wreckage of the Bayesian.
The 18-year-old, who was due to start studying English at Oxford University next month, was the last person rescue divers were searching for in the wreckage.
Esme's statement says: "Hannah often burst into my bedroom and lay down with me.
"Sometimes beaming with a smile, sometimes cheeky, sometimes for advice. No matter what, she brought boundless love to me.
"She was endlessly caring, passionately mad, unintentionally hilarious and the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me.
"And on top of all this, she had even more love to give endlessly to all her friends and passion to give to her incredible studies and goals.
"She is my little angel, my star."
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