Hundreds of people in the Sicilian town close to where the British superyacht Bayesian capsized and sank with the loss of seven lives held a poignant candle-lit vigil for the victims on Sunday evening, almost a week after the tragedy. On a sweltering night in the fishing community of Porticello, a large crowd attended a special Mass at the Church of Maria Santissima del Lume, or Most Holy Mary of the Lamp, where the altar is decorated with a giant image of Christ in marine blue robes hovering over fishermen pulling up their nets from two boats. A solemn procession, led by teenagers holding a silver crucifix, then proceeded through the streets of the town to the seafront, clutching candles and intoning blessings and prayers.
Passersby made the sign of the cross and bowed their heads in respect. It was a heartfelt gesture of grief and mourning from a town that lives off fishing and knows all too well the dangers of the sea. The hundreds of locals stopped at a point on the esplanade that was just a couple of hundred yards from where the bodies of multi-millionaire British tech tycoon and the other victims were brought after being recovered from the wreck by specialist divers.
The luxury yacht sank barely half a mile off shore, within plain sight of the town. In a moving ceremony, Father Vincenzo Buscemi, the local priest, read out the first names of all seven of the victims of the tragedy. “We are here to pray for the victims, who have concluded their earthly journey,” he to.