As expert divers continue their fierce search for missing passengers onboard the doomed Bayesian yacht , investigators on the ground are trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. The £30m vessel, believed to be owned by billionaire business tycoon Mike Lynch , was battered by a fatal storm in the early hours of Monday, resulting in it 'quickly' capsizing into the depths of the Sicilian sea. Fifteen people have survived the freak accident, however six are still unaccounted for.
Those feared to be trapped inside the wreckage are Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah , Morgan Stanley Bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, along with jewellery designer Neda Morvillo and her husband Chris Morvillo, who is a partner at Clifford Chance law firm. Tragically, one crew member - chef Recaldo Thomas - has been confirmed dead. Some reports suggest that the boat's aluminium mast, reported to be the world's second tallest, snapped clean in half amid the 'waterspout' - rotating columns of destructive wind over water.
While this is yet to be verified, a yacht expert argues that the humongous mast could have played a major part in the sinking. The superyacht was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with its navigation status as "at anchor". Dan Green, 51, Research & Investigations lead at eSysman SuperYachts - a team made up of yacht crew who share insights on the vessels - said the 75m mast can cause issues in extreme weather .
"With bare poles (meaning no sails), the wind could have blown against the rig sideways to her anchor position causing the vessel to heal over (or lean) heavily," Dan told the Mirror . The UK-based expert explained that this type of superyacht has a lifting keel, which is ballasted - the main structural backbone of the ship filled with heavy material, which could have been raised, having a knock-on effect on the boat's stability. "When these vessels are at anchor, especially in shallow areas, the keel is lifted to increase the draft (depth) to allow them to anchor or dock in marinas," he explained.
"The keel when lowered increases the stability of the vessel. "Especially when the yacht is underway using sails, as it counters the effects of the wind trying to push the vessel over. However it increases the draft (depth) of the yacht making it hard to get into some marinas (without hitting the sea bed/marina bottom).
"The lowered keel can increase the yacht's draft (depth) by 100 per cent. So, the keel is designed to be lifted up into the hull of the yacht. This allows them into more shallow water and marinas - however when raised, this reduces stability as the centre of gravity is raised, as the keel is also weighted with lead.
"It has an adverse effect on the stability of the yacht. Another effect of the keel being in the up position is the vessel will not self-right if it leans far over. "If you add to that the possibility of hatches being opened on the vessel that would explain why it's saying so quickly.
" He added: "I would be very interested to know if the keel is in the up or down position - searchers should be looking at the position of the keel." Survivor James Catfield, who captained the boat, said on Tuesday: "We didn't see it coming." He was described as "limp" as he waited outside an emergency room after he was freed from the sunken vessel .
Meanwhile a local witness in Porticello said: "That vessel was all lit up. At around 4:30 in the morning, it was gone. A beautiful vessel where there had been a party.
A normal holiday day spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy. The vessel was not far from the port. It would have taken very little to raise the anchor and head for the port.
Evidently they were surprised by the storm that suddenly hit and they were unable to avoid the sinking." Matthew Schanck, Chairperson for the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the sinking would have likely happened 'very, very quickly'. Highlighting the rarity of such an incident, he explained: "There isn't really much the captain or the crew could do to prepare for these events given how rare they are.
"Reports that people who were in the life raft have had to enter the life raft from the water, and that indicates to me that this emergency has happened very, very quickly. People haven't had time to enter the life raft from the vessel, they've had to enter from the water. "My understanding is that the flare has gone up from the life raft, according to the reports.
We don't know if the vessel had time to send out any electronic distress signals, to use its radio or any other equipment to alert the authorities, but the eyewitness accounts from the shore and the anchorage state they saw the red flare. "One of the captains from the anchorage said he saw the vessel there one minute and then the next minute the vessel was gone and all he saw was the red flare which indicates to me that this has been a catastrophic incident which has gone very quickly." Mr Schanck also told GB News: "It's sort of unprecedented, really, to have a vessel of that size, being certified and commercially operated, to suffer such a significant event in weather that was pretty severe by all accounts, but should have been within the limits of the vessel itself.
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