Divers uncover the 6th missing body after luxury superyacht sank in freak storm off Sicily. Here's what we know about the incident.
Rescue crews recovered the sixth and final missing body off the coast of Sicily, the Italian coast guard said Friday.
It's been five days since the Bayesian, a luxury superyacht, sank after it was caught in the middle of an unexpected and violent storm. Six passengers were reported missing at the time.
British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who seemed to have been hosting a celebration on the yacht after being acquitted of fraud charges in June, was one of those missing. His body was recovered on Thursday.
While Italian officials did not identify the last body, Lynch's 18-year-old daughter was the only person unaccounted for.
An investigation has been launched looking into the sinking. Naval marine experts said a boat like the Bayesian should have withstood the storm. Giovanni Costantino, the CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the company that made the Bayesian, alleged to Reuters that the shipwreck was caused by "indescribable, unreasonable errors" made by the crew and not any design or construction issues.
What happened?
The Bayesian capsized about half a mile off the coast of Porticello, a small fishing village. There were 22 people on board — 12 passengers and 10 crew members. The City Council of Bagheria said in a statement that seven adults were taken to the emergency room following the rescue, but “it seems that none are in serious conditions.”
While crews searched for the remaining bodies, others are trying to confirm why the boat sank in the first place. According to a BBC report, a heavy storm hit the coast of Sicily and created waterspouts, which are tornadoes that form over water. The waterspout winds were so powerful that they broke the boat’s mast in half, causing the ship, which was anchored, to lose its balance and sink.
The U.K.’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch plans to send a team of four investigators to make a preliminary assessment of why the Bayesian sank and why people were still on board.
As the ship was going down, 15 people were able to make it to safety and were rescued by a nearby boat.
The crew on a Dutch-flagged vessel nearby noticed the yacht had disappeared and saw flares being set off in the sea. They went to help survivors before the Italian coast guard could arrive.
One British passenger, Charlotte Golunski, told reporters she kept her 1-year-old daughter alive by holding her up above the water until they got on a lifeboat.
The wreck was found around 164 feet beneath the water's surface. More than 400 people, including 28 specialist divers, were involved in the rescue efforts.
What to know about the Bayesian
Charter sites list the yacht’s weekly rent as $215,000, the Associated Press reported.
Boat International, a superyacht and luxury yacht guide, reported that the Bayesian had the tallest aluminum mast in the world at over 240 feet, making it one of the 50 largest sailing yachts in the world.
Who is Mike Lynch?
Lynch, 59, founded the software firm Autonomy and recently faced a legal battle with U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard after the tech company accused him of inflating Autonomy’s value in an $11 billion sale in 2011.
Lynch was acquitted of multiple fraud charges in June after a three-month trial, avoiding a potential 20-year jail sentence.