Only a matter of weeks after Leonardo DiCaprio was roundly locked for his million-dollar-a-week superyacht holiday and a Saudi billionaire lost his own vessel to a shipyard fire, a yacht — Bayesian — has sunk off the coast of Sicily, with British tech mogul Mike Lynch amongst the passengers on board.
Caught in a freak storm that has ultimately resulted in the death of one passenger, the British-flagged craft sunk quickly after the sudden turn of weather which caught crew and passengers alike totally off guard.
Terror On The High Seas
The 56-meter long sailboat boasted a 75-meter aluminium mast ᅳ the tallest of its kind — is said to have been anchored near the Sicilian port of Porticello before sunrise. Eyewitnesses reported their horror when they saw how fast the yacht was overwhelmed by storms and surging waves, vanishing beneath the sea moments before dawn had broken.
Salvatore Cocina, head of Sicily’s Civil Protection office told press that 15 passengers — including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and a one-year-old infant baby — had managed to escape from the sinking yacht, but seven were still missing and the wide-scale rescue operation continued.
Those that have gone missing include Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International and esteemed Clifford Chance lawyer, Chris Morvillo. At least one person, identified by Italian media as the on-board chef, was confirmed dead.
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Rescue Efforts
The Italian Coast Guard quickly deployed a number of vessels and specialist divers in the area surrounding the spot where the boat sank. Captain Karsten Borner, captain of a nearby boat, has shared his experience:
“We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone, [the Bayesian] went flat on the water, and then down.”
Here also shared that his crew was lucky their engines were powerful enough to keep their vessel from enduring a similar fate, allowing them to just keep their distance from the wreck beside them. Once the storm was over, Borner’s crew managed to rescue a number of survivors, including an infant with her mother, who had been sheltering on board a life raft.
An investigation is now being undertaken by the authorities to determine the exact cause of the sudden storm that led to the sinking of the yacht. Meteorologists speculate that unusually warm sea temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius may have been a factor and could have amplified the severe strength of the storm. According to Luca Mercalli, a meteorologist:
“This increased sea temperature provides an enormous source of energy that contributes to these kinds of extreme weather events.”
The tragedy sent tremors through the international community, with Lynch — one of the very first software innovators, known to many as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — making headlines around the world in the wake of the incident. Search operations are ongoing.
