Tweet Facebook Mail Italian police divers continued to search for six people trapped in the hull of the Mike Lynch superyacht off Sicily amid questions about why the vessel sank. The Bayesian , a 56-metre British-flagged yacht, was moored about a kilometre offshore when a storm rolled in during the early hours of Monday. Civil protection officials said they believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.
The luxury vessel, off Porticello near Palermo, is resting 50m underwater — far deeper than most recreational divers are certified for and a depth that requires special precautions. Recovery crews could only stay for 12-minute shifts, a measure that slowed efforts to reach the cramped inside of the wreck. READ MORE: Court upholds conviction of former secretary at Nazi concentration camp, age 99 Scuba divers arrive at the harbour of Porticello, southern Italy, .
Rescue teams and divers returned to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli) (AP) Italian authorities said they assume the missing six are in the yacht's cabins because the storm struck when most would be sleeping, but the teams haven't verified their presence there through portholes. Accompanying the rescue effort are theories about why the yacht owned by Lynch, a technology magnate, sank so rapidly.
Grainy film from closed-circuit cameras from shore, broadcast on the website of the Giornale di Sicilia media outlet, showed the majestic, illuminated 75-metre mast of the Bayesian weathering the storm and then disappearing over the course of a minute. Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, told the BBC it is difficult to say whether the mast broke. "I think, and this is pure guess]work, but the evidence that we are getting from the divers is the vessel is basically intact, lying on its side reportedly," he said.
READ MORE: Record-breaking warm spell smothers entire southern hemisphere The 56-metre British-flagged Bayesian was known for its single 75-metre mast, one of the world's tallest made of aluminium. (Perini Navi) "If the mast was broken, that would be a significant thing that would be reported." Schanck said he believed what happened to the Bayesian was "a freak event".
He said vessels are not built to be out on the seas sailing in winds of 100km/h to 135km/k. "They aren't designed to sail through tornadoes or water spouts." Attention is also turning to the scorching heat across the Mediterranean playing a part in the sinking of the Bayesian .
Weather data shows temperatures reached about 33 degrees the day before the disaster. READ MORE: Highly regarded sports journalist killed after being hit by truck on Melbourne street Scuba divers on the scene of the search for a missing boat, in Porticello, southern Italy on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. (Italian Firefighters via AP, HO) One yachting expert says hatches and doors may have been left open overnight to encourage air flow through the vessel while passengers and crew slept.
"I would have said that the boat got hit very hard by the wind, it was pinned over on its side," Sam Jefferson, editor of UK magazine Sailing Today , told the BBC. "I imagine all the doors were open because it was hot, so there were enough hatches and doors open that it filled with water very quickly and sank like that. "The reason it got pinned over so hard was because the mast is huge.
It acted almost like a sail. [It] pushed the boat hard over on its side. "[The boat] filled with water before it could right.
This is all speculation, but that's the only logical explanation." Rescuers bring ashore the body of one of the victims from the Bayesan. (AP Photo/Lucio Ganci) (AP) Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived, including a mother who reported holding her one-year-old baby over the waves to save her.
One body was recovered, identified by officials as the Antiguan-born on-board chef. The rest of the 10-person crew survived, including the captain whom prosecutors reportedly sought to interview. - With Associated Press FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE : Stay across all the latest in breaking news, celebrity and sport via our WhatsApp channel.
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