Neighbours of missing Morgan Stanley boss and his wife reveal their shock as hopes of finding the couple alive in the Sicily yacht tragedy fade By Paul Thompson and Frankie Elliott For Mailonline Published: 14:58 EDT, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 15:02 EDT, 20 August 2024 e-mail View comments Neighbours of missing bank boss Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy spoke of their shock as hopes of finding the couple alive in the Sicily yacht tragedy fades. Six people including the Bloomers and the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter are missing after the £30million Bayesian superyacht capsized early yesterday morning. Rescuers are now frantically searching for trapped survivors and have 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.
Locals of Knockholt in Kent, where Mr Bloomer and his wife used to spend weekends in a £5m country house on the edge of the picturesque village, said they were stunned by the news. Harry Osenton, who managed the local pub The Three Horseshoes where the couple would occasionally be seen, said: 'It is quite a shock. I remember he [Mr Bloomer] would come in here occasionally with his family.
I don't think he lived in the village full time but was in here at the start of the summer.' Chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer (pictured left), is yet to be found Mr Bloomer's wife Judy was also onboard the £30million Bayesian superyacht and is yet to be found The superyacht was docked off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when it was hit by an over-sea tornado, known as a waterspout Rescue workers look at the plans of the the Bayesian as they organise a search operation for six people who are still missing after the superyacht sank Neighbours to their large country house that has a separate cottage in the extensive grounds also expressed their shock. They said: 'We have been following on the news and saw Johnathan's name.
He mostly used the place at the weekends. I guess it was his country home and he lived in London most of the time.' Others in the village said they had been following developments in the tragedy but did not know Mr Bloomer.
Read More BREAKING NEWS CCTV captures storm ravaging £30m luxury superyacht before it sinks 'in 60 seconds' 'I feel dreadfully sorry for his family,' said a resident who asked not to be named. ‘I cannot imagine what they must be going through.' Mr Bloomer, 70, was chairman of the international arm of the US banking giant Morgan Stanley.
His country home was formerly a children's home from 1954 to 1965. Search teams in Sicily say the boat he was on with his wife 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.
There have been instances in the past of people surviving for days underwater in these circumstances, but rescue divers have warned that they are prepared to find bodies instead of living, breathing survivors. One person is confirmed to have died after the £30million superyacht was struck by a terrifying waterspout at around 5am on Monday morning, with the ship's captain emotionally claiming 'we didn't see it coming' from his hospital bed. It is believed the ship sank after its mast - one of the tallest in the world at an enormous 246ft-high - snapped during the brutal incident and keeled over, taking the hull beyond the 'down-flooding angle', according to nautical experts.
Divers attempting to get inside the superyacht have found their progress impeded with furniture blocking the entrances and exits. CCTV captured the last moments of the Bayesian superyacht before it sank beneath the waves during a ferocious storm early on Monday morning British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is still missing. His wife Angela Bacares (right) was among the 15 people who were rescued from the yacht Your browser does not support iframes.
Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Italian Coast Guard Command teams and firefighters are carrying out search and rescue Those in charge of the operation say the specialist divers are struggling to reach the cabins where survivors might be and are having to drill their way into the lounge.
Luca Cari, head of emergency communications for Italy's fire and rescue department, said divers can see nothing inside the yacht from the outside and have only been able to inspect the bridge deck - the room from which the captain navigates. Describing the challenges faced by the divers, she told local news agency Ansa: 'They can stay underwater for a maximum of 12 minutes, two of which are needed to go up and down. So the real time to be able to carry out the search is 10 minutes per dive.
' Rescuers said that from what they can see, there appears to be no bodies on the bridge of the yacht, and divers are now working to break into the lounge area. The boat is resting on the seabed on its starboard (right hand) side, 164ft below the waves, and the first efforts of the dive teams were unsuccessful in moving furniture impeding their access to the cabins below, said Insp. Tilotta.
The rescuers still hope that survivors might be found, against all odds, in trapped air pockets, but Insp Tilotta admitted 'it is a race against time and the quality of the oxygen will be bad'. London Share or comment on this article: Neighbours of missing Morgan Stanley boss and his wife reveal their shock as hopes of finding the couple alive in the Sicily yacht tragedy fade e-mail Add comment.
