Divers located the body of the last missing individual from a superyacht tragedy off Sicily on Friday, believed to be UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s teenage daughter, who also perished in the incident. The Italian coastguard confirmed this discovery to AFP, marking the total death count at seven from the sinking of the “Bayesian” off the Italian island before dawn on Monday.
Rescue operations recovered the bodies of Lynch, a celebrated tech entrepreneur, and four other passengers across Wednesday and Thursday, leaving his 18-year-old daughter Hannah as the final missing person until now.
Emergency services had earlier recovered another man’s body, believed to be the yacht’s chef, shortly after the storm-induced sinking.
Lynch had hosted friends and family on the 56-meter (185-feet) British-flagged yacht to celebrate his recent acquittal in a major US fraud case. A waterspout struck the yacht while anchored off Porticello, near Palermo, causing it to sink within minutes.
Italian authorities conducted a comprehensive search involving specialist divers, various emergency service boats, and helicopters.
Survivors and Memorial Statements
Fifteen individuals were rescued from the ship, including Lynch’s wife, who awaited news about her husband and daughter at a hotel in Sicily. The media reported that 18-year-old Hannah had just completed her school exams and secured a place to study English literature at Oxford University.
Authorities recovered the bodies of Lynch’s lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, along with Jonathan Bloomer, chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy, on Wednesday.
Clifford Chance, Morvillo’s firm, expressed their heartbreak over the tragic losses, deeply affected by the sudden passing. The Bloomer family described their immense grief, taking solace in that Jonathan and Judy remained together.
Critiques and Reflections on the Incident
Giovanni Costantino, head of the Italian Sea Group, which includes Perini Navi, which built the Bayesian in 2008, highlighted potential preventative steps that were overlooked, suggesting the tragedy might have been avoidable. On Thursday, he explained that despite bad weather forecasts, the crew did not adequately prepare the yacht or gather passengers at a designated safety point. He critiqued the yacht’s preparedness and the handling of the passengers during the crisis.
Mike Lynch, aged 59, recently faced and was acquitted of all charges in a San Francisco court in June. The allegations involved an $11 billion fraud related to selling his software firm, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard. The Bayesian, owned by his family, is notable for its 75-meter mast, the tallest aluminium sailing mast in the world, as listed by the Charter World website.
Nick Sloane, a salvage engineer, discussed the potential challenges and costs of recovering the yacht, estimating a six to eight-week timeframe and a cost of around 15 million euros to raise the vessel, including removing the mast on the seabed if necessary.
