Sicily yacht sinking: What is a waterspout that sank ship and how dangerous are they?

The Bayesian yacht is thought to have been struck by a waterspout. (Image: Getty ) On Sunday night the British-flagged luxury yacht the Bayesian was photographed showing the stunning 56m vessel lit up with lights anchored off the coast of a Sicilian fishing village in calm Mediterranean waters. But just hours later tragedy would strike when a sudden freak weather event hit the area around 5am local time, with witnesses reporting wind so strong they snapped the Bayesian's record-breaking 236-foot-tall aluminium mast.

Italian authorities believe so far that the mast collapse and the boat being at anchor may have caused the vessel to capsize sending it to rest around 50 metres down on the seabed. So far 15 of the 22 people on board the Bayesian, which was owned by British tech tycoon Mike Lynch , have been accounted for, and six, including Mr Lynch and his daughter, remain missing. function loadOvpScript(){let el=document.

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