Italian and British authorities are trying to determine why a 184-foot luxury superyacht sank in a violent storm off the coast of Sicily early Monday, causing the deaths of seven people, including at least two Americans. According to witnesses, the sailing ship Bayesian was struck by a waterspout while at anchor. It sank quickly in 160 feet of water about half a mile off the Sicilian coast near Porticello around 5 a.
m. local time. Twelve guests and 10 crew members were aboard the ship when it sank.
Fifteen people were rescued. The body of one man, the ship’s chef, was found later that day. Divers later recovered five bodies and are searching for a sixth.
Names of the deceased have not been officially released by Italian police, but those aboard included British tech mogul Mike Lynch, the ship's owner, and his daughter Hannah, 18. Mike Lynch's body was recovered , USA TODAY reported. Profile of the superyacht Bayesian The Bayesian was built in Italy by Perini Navi and delivered in 2008.
It was one of 10 models and sailed under the United Kingdom flag. Who was aboard the Bayesian when it sank? In addition to Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, those aboard the ship who were missing and believed dead included: Lynch's wife Angela Bacares was among those rescued, along with 14 others. Lynch was acquitted on fraud charges in June stemming from the sale of his tech company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.
Prosecutors said Lynch and another executive misrepresented Autonomy revenue. The yacht trip around southern Italy was planned as a celebration of Lynch's acquittal. Where the yacht went down What are investigators focusing on? The Bayesian is the type of ship that’s “unsinkable,” says Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the company that built the vessel, reported the Independent.
Costantino said it was one of the safest boats in the world. Italian authorities in the town of Termini Imerese, Sicily, and the U.K.
's Marine Accident Investigation Branch are investigating the sinking. The ship's captain, James Cutfield, has been questioned. Early reports said the ship's 240-foot aluminum mast had broken, but Italian divers later said the vessel was intact , according to the Wall Street Journal.
The ship is lying on its right side on the sea floor, the Journal reported. Investigators will try to determine if the ship's crew followed safety procedures, which include closing the vessel's portholes and hatches ahead of the storm's arrival. Contributing: Christopher Cann and Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY Source: USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; boatinternational.
com; marinetraffic.com.
