Could yacht's crew have done more to avert disaster? Experts says guests should have been woken and given life jackets during storm that sunk the Bayesian READ: CCTV captures storm ravaging £30m luxury superyacht before it sinks By Katherine Lawton Published: 12:30 EDT, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 12:31 EDT, 20 August 2024 e-mail 6 View comments Guests on Mike Lynch's superyacht should have been woken up and given life jackets during the storm that sunk the Bayesian, an expert has claimed. The luxury sailboat was docked off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when a 'whirlwind' hit the area just before 5am on Monday morning, wrecking the boat and causing it to rapidly sink. Luca Mercalli, one of Italy 's leading crime experts and president of the Italian Meteorological Society, said the crew should have paid better attention to weather warnings and taken more measures to protect passengers.
Professor Mercalli added that although the waterspout which hit the vessel was not predictable, the crew should have been more vigilant. 'I don't know if there was anyone on board consulting the radar,' he told The Telegraph. 'Let's say that if I had been on board, at the first sign of a thunderstorm I would have woken up all the occupants and been ready and alert with life jackets on until the storm was over.
' The superyacht was docked off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when it was hit by an over-sea tornado, known as a waterspout Mike Lynch (pictured) invited family and friends on his superyacht to celebrate his triumph over fraud charges in the US. Lynch is missing alongside his 18-year-old daughter Hannah Chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer (pictured), and his wife are also missing Lynch's attorney Christopher Morvillo (pictured) and his wife are also missing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is still missing. His wife Angela Bacares (right) was among the 15 people who were rescued from the yacht A life raft is seen docked at the harbour near the port where the emergency and rescue workers are launching their search operation Luxury sailboat Bayesian was docked off the coast of Porticello when a waterspout struck the area just before 5am on Monday Prof Mercalli said the weather radar made it possible to estimate an intense thunderstorm within 15 to 30 minutes.
The yacht had been visible to surrounding ships before it suddenly vanished, claiming the life of one person while six remain missing. Read More BREAKING NEWS CCTV captures storm ravaging £30m luxury superyacht before it sinks 'in 60 seconds' Fifteen of the 22 people onboard were rescued by Sir Robert BP, a Dutch sailing ship, which was in front of the yacht. British tech tycoon Lynch had invited his family and friends on the sailboat to celebrate charges of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly scheming to inflate a company's value before it was sold being dropped.
He had gathered guests from legal firm Clifford Chance, and his own company Invoke Capital after being cleared in June. Rescuers frantically searching for trapped survivors warned that the next 24 hours are 'critical' if there is to be any hope of finding anyone alive, with the distant possibility there could still be an air pocket inside the wreck. Search teams say the boat is marooned 164ft below the surface on the seabed and is so deep that dive teams can only go down for 10 minutes at a time, with their efforts being hampered by furniture blocking the entrances.
One expert has claimed that the ship, which is almost completely intact despite not being 'anchored in a safe place' before it sank, could have trapped pockets of air inside that might allow survivors to stay alive after the 'unprecedented' disaster. Share or comment on this article: Could yacht's crew have done more to avert disaster? Experts says guests should have been woken and given life jackets during storm that sunk the Bayesian e-mail Add comment.
