Staff at top London private school 'shocked' as ex-pupil Hannah Lynch, 18, among six missing from Bayesian

A prestigious west London school is “incredibly shocked” over news an 18-year-old former pupil is among those missing after the Bayesian superyacht sunk off the coast of Sicily.

Hannah Lynch was on the superyacht with her father Mike Lynch, a British tech tycoon once known as Britain’s Bill Gates, and her mother Angela Bacares, when it was struck by a violent storm in the early hours of Monday.

The vessel, which had been moored overnight around half-a-mile off the coast of Palermo, sank “within a few minutes”, according to eyewitnesses.

A major search was underway on Tuesday to find Hannah, Mr Lynch, and four other people who remained missing.

A spokesperson for the Italian coastguard said they are feared to be trapped inside the luxury yacht.

Hannah is a former pupil of £25,000-a-year Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith - a private school which counts Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant and Heston Blumenthal among alumni.

The school said in a statement: “We are all incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic incident and our thoughts are with their family and everyone involved as we await further updates.”

Hannah is understood to be the youngest of Mr Lynch’s two daughters.

She had been due to study English at University of Oxford having recently finished her A-levels, The Times reported. A gifted pupil, she won a prize for English while she was in Year 10 at Latymer Upper School.

The teenager has been described by friends as a “supernova” - a gentle, kind, clever young woman who was a staunch feminist, according to The Times.

Also missing following Monday’s tragedy are Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo. Mr Morvillo’s wife is said to be the sixth person unaccounted for, according to the head of Sicily's Civil Protection.

Hannah Lynch’s mother, Ms Bacares, is among 15 of the 22 passengers and crew onboard who managed to escape on a lifeboat.

A body, reportedly the ship's chef, was recovered at the scene.

On Tuesday Ms Bacares recalled how a “slight tilt” of the Bayesian was the first sign it was about to sink.

She and Mr Lynch were awoken around 4am on Monday after the 180ft superyacht suddenly “tilted” in a violent storm, she told Italian news outlet La Repubblica.

Though they had initially not been worried, she got out of bed to investigate what had happened.

Glass then suddenly shattered, reportedly causing confusion among those on board.

Ms Bacares is said to be in a wheelchair following the tragedy. She is understood to have suffered injuries to her feet, caused by walking on broken glass.

Also among survivors of the tragedy are Charlotte Golunski, her husband James, and their one-year-old daughter Sofia.

Mrs Golunski fought to keep their baby from drowning after they were thrown into the darkened sea in the tragedy.

“For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves,” she told La Repubblica newspaper yesterday, recounting her heroism.

“I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning. It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”

She, her husband, and their daughter were discharged from the Di Cristina hospital in Palermo on Tuesday afternoon.

Mike Lynch is a tech entrepreneur who built Britain's biggest software company Autonomy.

The 59-year-old was lauded by shareholders, scientists and politicians when he sold it to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011.

In late 2012, HP said it had found a massive accounting scandal at the business, and wrote off $8.8 billion of its value. Mr Lynch spent the next 12 years trying to clear his name and was finally acquitted on all criminal charges just weeks ago, in June, in the United States.

The trip on the family’s yacht is understood to have been organised by Mr Lynch as a celebration for his family, colleagues, and lawyers following the end of the legal proceedings.

Experts believe the yacht was battered by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout.Local fisherman Giuseppe Cefalu told the PA news agency that he saw a "tornado" close to the scene, and he and his brother Fabio saw a flare in the sky at around 5am as the Bayesian sank.

The pair aided efforts to locate people in the water after the yacht sank, but Mr Cefalu said he only saw cushions and a buoy.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another sailboat that had been next to the Bayesian when the storm hit, said: “I have never seen a vessel of this size go down so quickly. Within a few minutes, there was nothing left. Then we saw the raft with the 15 passengers. It was a tragedy.”

Divers were on Tuesday afternoon working to access the cabins of the yacht, but passageways leading to the rooms were reportedly obstructed by a huge amount of furniture and other items.

Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coastguard said that because the boat sank so quickly, the working theory of officials is that the six people who remain unaccounted for are still inside the luxury yacht.

"We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea,” he told the PA news agency on Tuesday.

"Our search and rescue activity by sea and air has gone on for around 36 hours.

"Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly.

"We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat."

Key points

• Morgan Stanley bank boss and his wife confirmed among the missing

• Mike Lynch co-defendant killed in separate car crash

• Six people still missing as search resumes

• Rescuers face difficulty accessing wreck

Search to resume

Tuesday 20 August 2024 06:51 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Good morning, and welcome to the Standard’s live blog.

The search for British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter is set to resume this morning, after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily yesterday.

The pair are among six tourists missing after the yacht, named Bayesian, was battered during intense storms off the coast of Palermo in the early hours of Monday.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates throughout the day.

Who are the six people still missing?

Tuesday 20 August 2024 07:01

British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter are among six people still unaccounted for after yesterday’s tragedy.

Morgan Stanley International Bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are now also thought to be among the missing.

The Daily Mail reports Mr Bloomer’s wife is also unaccounted for, while a colleague of Mr Morvillo told Business Insider his wife is also missing.

Mr Bloomer is also chairman of insurance provider Hiscox. The Daily Mail reports his wife is also unaccounted for.

A body, believed to be that of the vessel's cook, was discovered by search teams on Monday.

Italian news website la Repubblica reports that four of the missing passengers are British while the other two are American.

Who is tech billionaire Mike Lynch?

Tuesday 20 August 2024 07:15

British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are missing following yesterday’s luxury yacht sinking.

Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was also on board the yacht but survived the tragedy.

Born in Ilford in east London, Mr Lynch became one of Britain’s most influential entrepreneurs after founding software giant Autonomy in 1996.

He has been described at points as ‘the Bill Gates of Britain’, for founding the company which became one of the biggest enterprise software firms on the planet.He went on to negotiate an $11bn (£8.64bn) sale of Autonomy to Hewlett Packard (HP), which generated him a more than $800m windfall (£616m).

But the sale also kicked off a 13-year legal saga, in which HP alleged he had inflated the value of Autonomy - which had turned out to be a costly take-on for the firm.

Mr Lynch was finally cleared of fraud and conspiracy in June this year. He said at the time that he was "elated".

The Times reported that he had previously spent 13 months under house arrest awaiting the trial.

Mr Lynch has a PhD from Cambridge University, where he carried out research in machine learning which he later applied to set up his software firms.

He is co-founder of Cambridge-based cybersecurity company Darktrace, and is a major figure in the tech belt around Cambridge known as Silicon Fen.

You can read more about Mike Lynch here.

Firefighters struggling to access wreck

Tuesday 20 August 2024 07:35

Italian firefighters have reportedly been struggling to fully access the wreck of the Bayesian yacht because of the position in which it sank, and the way its contents have fallen.

Italy’s fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said on X that early inspections of the wreck were “unsuccessful” due to limited access to the bridge and furniture obstructing passages.

Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four of its inspectors were being deployed to Palermo to help assess the situation.

A basic assessment of the scene will be made by the team, with no investigation launched at this stage.

Mike Lynch's wife gives first account of tragedy

Tuesday 20 August 2024 07:48 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Angela Bacares, the wife of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, has revealed a “slight tilt” of the yacht Bayesian was the first sign it was about to sink.

Ms Bacares, 57, is among 15 people who were rescued from a lifeboat at the scene of the tragedy, but remains anxiously awaiting updates as her husband and 18-year-old daughter Hannah remain missing.

She and Mr Lynch were awoken around 4am on Monday after the 180ft superyacht suddenly “tilted” in a violent storm, she told Italian news outlet La Repubblica.

Though they had initially not been worried, she got out of bed to investigate what had happened.

Glass then suddenly shattered, reportedly causing confusion among those on board.

Ms Bacares is said to be in a wheelchair following the tragedy. She is understood to have suffered injuries to her feet, caused by walking on broken glass.

What we know about the Bayesian superyacht

Tuesday 20 August 2024 08:07

The Bayesian, a British-registered superyacht, sank with 22 people onboard shortly before sunrise on Monday, said the Italian coastguard.

It said the wreck of the the 56-metre-long (184-ft) luxury sailboat is now lying on the sea floor at a depth of 49 metres.

The Bayesian was built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008 and was last refitted in 2020. Its 75-metre mast is the tallest aluminium mast in the world, Perini said on its website.

The shipspotting.com website says the boat is owned by a firm called Revtom Limited. Mike Lynch's wife Angela Bacares, who survived the sinking, is named as the sole shareholder of the firm on company documents.

The yacht's name is likely to have resonated with Mr Lynch, because his PhD thesis and the software that made his fortune was based on Bayesian theory.

The ship won a string of awards for its design and can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites and a crew of 10, according to online specialist yacht sites.T

he boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on August 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, when it was "at anchor", according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder.

Search and rescue operation resumes

Tuesday 20 August 2024 08:12

The search and rescue mission appears to have resumed. Photos taken by Reuters appear to show a number of rescue boats including a Coastguard vessel at the scene, off the coast of Porticello near the Sicilian city of Palermo.

Mike Lynch fraud trial co-defendant dies after being hit by car, says lawyer

Tuesday 20 August 2024 08:17

The co-defendant of missing tech tycoon Mike Lynch in his US fraud trial has died after being hit by a car on Saturday, his lawyer has said.

Mr Lynch has been confirmed as one of the six tourists missing after the Bayesian yacht sank on Monday.

Stephen Chamberlain was cleared earlier this year alongside Mr Lynch of conducting a massive fraud over the sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.

Gary Lincenberg, Mr Chamberlain’s lawyer, said in a statement: “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.

“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him.

“Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”

Read more here.

Recap: Key points we know so far

Tuesday 20 August 2024 08:26

• Six people are missing after the British-flagged superyacht Bayesian sank in ferocious weather off the port of Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo, shortly before dawn on Monday

• On Monday, rescue teams recovered the body of the yacht's onboard chef, identified as Antiguan citizen Ricardo Thomas

• British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are among the missing

• Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Lynch in a long-standing trial in the US, are also among the missing. The wives of both men were also unaccounted for, Salvatore Cocina, head of Civil Protection in Sicily, told Italian media.

• Fifteen people had escaped before the boat went down, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a one-year-old girl who was saved by her mother

• Specialist divers had reached the ship on Monday at a depth of 49 metres, but access was limited due to objects in the way, the fire brigade said

• Search and rescue operations were beginning again on Tuesday morning

Yacht trip had been 'corporate holiday'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 09:02 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Survivors have said the ill-fated yacht trip was organised by British tech boss Mike Lynch, for his work colleagues and for lawyers who recently helped clear his name in a long-running fraud case.

Ayla Reynold, a New Zealand national working at leading law firm Clifford Chance, is among 15 people who survived the ordeal.

Her father Lin Ronald told the Telegraph she had been invited aboard the superyacht as thanks for assistance in Mr Lynch's recent court case.

"Ayla is a lawyer who is part of the legal team that were invited to go sailing as a result of the success in the recent United States court case,” he said.

Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Mr Lynch in his fraud trial, are also among the missing. Their wives are also unaccounted for, according to authorities.

Also among the survivors is Charlotte Golunski, who is understood to be a partner at Mr Lynch’s firm Invoke Capital. Her husband James and their one-year-old daughter Sofia were also on the trip. They all survived.

Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, also remain missing.

Rescuers at scene of search amid fears 'bodies trapped in vessel'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 09:13 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Photos taken this morning show rescue teams have returned to the scene where the Bayesian sank.

Divers loaded a rescue dinghy at the port of Porticello, near Palermo, as the search resumed.

They are to try accessing the wreck, which is lying on the sea bed at a depth of around 49m about half-a-mile from Porticello.

Salvatore Cocina, head of civil protection in Sicily, has told news agency Reuters: “The fear is that the bodies got trapped inside the vessel.”

Specialist divers yesterday struggled to search the wreck, as objects had fallen in a way that obstructed access.

Jonatham Bloomer's wife confirmed to be among missing

Tuesday 20 August 2024 09:16 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Judy Bloomer, wife of Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, has been confirmed among the six people who are still missing.

It was already confirmed that Mr Bloomer is among those unaccounted for.

"Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our Chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing," said Aki Hussain, of UK-based insurance firm Hiscox which is chaired by Mr Bloomer, in a statement to AFP news agency.

Who is missing Jonathan Bloomer?

Tuesday 20 August 2024 09:36 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Jonathan Bloomer is chairman of Morgan Stanley International bank, and non-executive chairman of insurance provider Hiscox.He is also an alumnus of Imperial College London, from which he graduated with a BSc in physics in 1974.

The Financial Times reported Mr Bloomer appeared as a defence witness for Mike Lynch at his trial that ended in June, while media reports suggest the pair are close friends.

He and his wife, Judy, have been confirmed as among the six people still missing from the Bayesian yacht.

Aki Hussain, the group chief executive of Hiscox, said this morning he is “deeply shocked and saddened” by the yacht tragedy.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation,” he said.

Bayesian captain breaks silence

Tuesday 20 August 2024 09:46 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The captain of the Bayesian has broken his silence following yesterday’s tragedy.

James Catfield is said to have been captaining the luxury yacht when it sank around 5am on Monday in severe weather.

“We didn't see it coming,” he told Italian news outlet La Repubblica this morning.

He uttered the one line statement from his room in a hospital in the town of Termini Imerese, near the city of Palermo.

Mr Catfield was reportedly one of the 15 people - a mixture of crew members and passengers - who was rescued from a lifeboat following the tragedy.

Map shows where search is being carried out

Tuesday 20 August 2024 09:58

Family of Stephen Chamberlain pay tribute to 'amazing individual'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:06 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The family of Stephen Chamberlain, who died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday, have paid tribute to him as “a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend”.

Mr Chamberlain was a co-defendant in the recent US trial of technology tycoon Mike Lynch, who is now among the six people missing following the separate sinking of the yacht Bayesian.

He was cleared, alongside Mr Lynch, of conducting a massive fraud over the sale of software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. Mr Chamberlain was formerly vice-president of finance at Autonomy.

In a statement released through Cambridgeshire Police, Mr Chamberlain’s family said: “Steve was a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend.

“He was an amazing individual whose only goal in life was to help others in any way possible.

“He made a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.

“He will be deeply missed but forever in the hearts of his loved ones.”

Gary Lincenberg, Mr Chamberlain’s lawyer, also said: “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.

“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him.

“Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”

Photos show search and rescue teams at the scene this morning

Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:18 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Morgan Stanley 'shocked and saddened by tragedy'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:22 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley has said the bank is "shocked and saddened" by news non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer is among those missing.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy,” said the spokesperson.

"Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular the Bloomer family, as we all wait for further news from this terrible situation."

Earlier the group chief executive of insurance firm Hiscox, where Mr Bloomer is non-executive chairman, confirmed both Mr Bloomer and his wife Judy are missing following the sinking of Bayesian.

Bayesian 'was not moored in a safe place', claims journalist

Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:36 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

A Sicilian journalist has claimed the Bayesian sank during Monday’s storm because of where it was moored.

Piero Messina told Sky News: "The boat went down because the boat was anchored 500m from the coast of the little port of Santa Flavia, and that means that it was not in a safe place.

"Some fishermen told me that they had never seen a storm like that, but that it was not a safe place to stay - so far from the coast.

"I think the authorities will need to clarify what's happened."

The cause of the sinking has not yet been confirmed. An investigation is expected to take place.

'I have never seen a vessel of this size go down so quickly' - eyewitness

Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:44 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

A captain of a nearby sailboat that was beside the Bayesian when it sank says the doomed vessel disappeared beneath the waves in a matter of minutes.

Karsten Borner, 69, told The Guardian he too was awoken by the raging storm, and immediately started his boat’s engine to help counteract the power of the wind and waves.

“The first thing I did was to start the engines of my sailboat to give more stability to the vessel. I don’t know if the Bayesian did the same,” he told The Guardian. “It seems like they were also suddenly caught by the storm.

“After securing our boat, we immediately approached the Bayesian. But it had already sunk.

“I have never seen a vessel of this size go down so quickly. Within a few minutes, there was nothing left. Then we saw the raft with the 15 passengers. It was a tragedy.”

Probe 'likely to examine whether Bayesian crew had time to close hatches'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 10:53 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

One expert at the scene of the disaster, who declined to be named, told news agency Reuters an early focus of the investigation would be whether the Bayesian’s crew had had time to close access hatches into the vessel before the storm struck in the early hours of Monday.

The British government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch has sent four inspectors to Sicily to conduct a "preliminary assessment”.

Severe weather 'amplified by global warming' has swept Italy in recent days

Tuesday 20 August 2024 11:04

Storms and heavy rainfall have swept Italy in recent days, after weeks of scorching heat lifted the temperature of the Mediterranean sea to record levels, raising the risk of extreme weather conditions, experts have said.

The Bayesian sank shortly before dawn on Monday after being caught in ferocious weather while anchored around half-a-mile off the coast of northern Sicily.

"The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30C, which is almost three degrees more than normal. This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms," meteorologist Luca Mercalli told news agency Reuters.

He added: "We can't say that this is all due to global warming but we can say that it has an amplifying effect.”

The fierce weather that sank the Bayesian is believed to have struck relatively suddenly.

The captain of a boat that was next to the yacht - and who was also “suddenly caught by the storm” - earlier told how the Bayesian sank “within a few minutes. He added: “I have never seen a vessel of this size go down so quickly.”Italy’s fire service, The Vigili del Fuoco, says it has been called out to more than 100 incidents including flooding and road accidents across Italy’s Mediterranean islands in the last day, as bad weather has continued.

Depth is 'biggest difficulty' rescuers face as they vow to 'search centimetre by centimetre'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 11:18

Fire department diver Marco Tilotta has told reporters: "The biggest difficulty we have is due to the depth, which does not allow long times of intervention.

"We plan...to search centimetre by centimetre,” he added.

Mr Tilotta said the Bayesian appeared to be intact and was lying on its right side.

Missing Judy Bloomer hailed 'brilliant' women's health champion by charity

Tuesday 20 August 2024 11:28

Judy Bloomer - who is missing from the Bayesian along with her husband Jonathan, chairman of Morgan Stanley International Bank - has been hailed a “brilliant champion for women’s health”.

Mrs Bloomer has been a trustee of UK gynaecological cancer research charity The Eve Appeal for more than 20 years.

CEO Athena Lamnisos told the BBC the charity is “deeply shocked to hear the news that our very dear friend and her husband Jonathan, are among those missing".

She described Mrs Bloomer as a "brilliant champion for women's health".

"Our thoughts are with Judy and Jonathan’s family, as well as all those who are still waiting for news after this tragic event,” she added.

Divers trying to find 'easier' way to access yacht

Tuesday 20 August 2024 11:33 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Italy’s fire service, the Vigili del Fuoco, has said its specialist divers are currently trying to find an easier way to enter the wreckage of the yacht.

“The entrance to the yacht was complex, planning is underway to open easier access and inspect the interior,” it said in a tweet on X.

It shared a video that appeared to show firefighters observing plans of the Bayesian, as they tried to work out the best way to enter.

Yesterday, divers reached the wreck where it is lying around 49m below surface level, but struggled to get inside and carry out a full search of the vessel, due to obstructions including furniture.

The yacht is said to be lying intact on its right side. A diver earlier said the depth of the wreck poses a problem, as divers have a limited amount of time under the water.

Fishermen 'saw tornado' near scene of tragedy

Tuesday 20 August 2024 11:40

Local fisherman Giuseppe Cefalu has said he saw a “tornado” close to the port of Porticello on Monday morning.

Mr Cefalu told the PA news agency through a translator that he and his brother Fabio saw a flare in the sky around 5am, when the Bayesian sank.

The pair aided efforts to locate people in the water, but Mr Cefalu said he only saw cushions and a buoy.

He said weather conditions on the morning of the sinking were “fierce”, with “very strong” wind and rain.

British Ambassador supporting survivors in 'incredibly sad and difficult situation'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 12:12 , Jacob Phillips

The British ambassador to Italy has expressed his sympathy for the families involved in the yacht sinking off the coast of Sicily.

Speaking outside a nearby hotel where he met survivors, Ed Llewellyn said: “My heart goes out to them.”

He added: “I’ve spoken to some of the British survivors both yesterday and today — I want to express my deep sympathy from myself and colleagues at the British Embassy for what’s happened.

“We’re doing what we can to support them in this incredibly sad and difficult situation to help them with contacts from the Italian authorities at a practical level.”

Divers have 10 minutes to search wreckage before having to resurface

Tuesday 20 August 2024 12:21 , Jacob Phillips

Divers sent to search the wreckage of the yacht have said no bodies were found on the ship’s bridge, where the captain controls the vessel.

Luca Cari, the head of emergency communications of Italy's fire and rescue department, told Italian news agency Ansa the bridge was found full of electrical cables.

Mr Cari said divers have 10 minutes at a time to search the wreck before they have to resurface for air, the BBC reports.

Rescuers have been unable to see inside the yacht but entered the lounge through a ladder and are trying to find a route forward from there.

A three centimetre thick glass window is also being considered as a point of entry.

Why did the superyacht Bayesian sink?

Tuesday 20 August 2024 12:37

Hatches and doors left open overnight on the superyacht Bayesian may have caused it to sink in Italy, a sailing expert has said.

Sam Jefferson, editor of magazine Sailing Today, believes the vessel’s huge mast is also likely to have contributed to the deadly event.

Mr Jefferson told the PA news agency: “I would have said that the boat got hit very hard by the wind, it was pinned over on its side.

“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.”

You can read more about what Mr Jefferson had to say here.

Ship 'capsized within a few minutes' survivors tell doctor

Tuesday 20 August 2024 13:00 , Jacob Phillips

A doctor who has been treating survivors after the yacht sank has been told the ship capsized “within a few minutes”.

Dr Domenico Cipolla, who was speaking from Di Cristina Children’s Hospital in Palermo, said: “They told me they found themselves in an incredible condition, let's say of physical and psychological upheaval of their lives, and that the boat capsized within a few minutes."

He explained a psychologist had been with some survivors including Charlotte Golunski, who held her baby above the waves as she desperately waited for help.

The doctor added: "Psychological support was constant and is constant even today, because basically it is the wounds of the soul are the most in need of healing in these cases."

He said the hospital provided "toys for the baby, cuddles, and fed them because they were frightened and hungry".

Divers carrying out 'very complicated searches' of wreckage

Tuesday 20 August 2024 13:06 , Jacob Phillips

Marco Tilotta, a firefighter diver from Palermo, has revealed the £30 million super yacht was lying on its side at around a depth of 48 metres.

He said divers were unable to gain access because of floating furnishings and other debris inside the vessel.

In his interview with Il Messaggero, he said: “It looked like a scenario similar to the Costa Concordia on a smaller scale. Unfortunately, these are very complicated searches.

“When we went down to the water around 5:30am, we found a yacht that was practically intact. It is resting on its side on the starboard side. It has no gashes, no signs of impact.’’

Mother leaves hospital with baby she heroically saved from sea

Tuesday 20 August 2024 13:17 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Mother Charlotte Golunski has left hospital with her one-year-old daughter, who she saved from drowning after the Bayesian sank.

Mrs Golunski was on board the vessel with her husband, James, and their baby daughter Sofia when the tragedy happened.

All three were discharged from the Di Cristina hospital in Palermo this afternoon. They were pictured leaving in a black private car.

“For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves,” Mrs Golunski told La Repubblica newspaper yesterday, recounting her heroism.

“I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.

“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”

Six missing people are believed to be inside boat, says Italian coastguard

Tuesday 20 August 2024 13:41

The Italian coastguard believes the six missing people may still be inside the sunken superyacht.

Spokesperson Vincenzo Zagarola has told the PA news agency that this is the working theory of officials, because the Bayesian is believed to have sunk quickly, and those unaccounted for have not yet been found despite search and rescue efforts by sea and air.

"We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea,” said Mr Zagarola.

"Our search and rescue activity by sea and air has gone on for around 36 hours.

"Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly.

"We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat."

Divers working to reach the cabins of sunken yacht

Tuesday 20 August 2024 14:06

Police divers searching for the six missing people are trying to access the sunken yacht’s cabins.

Italy's fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said it is developing a plan to enter the wreckage of Bayesian, which is resting on the seabed off the coast of Sicily at a depth of 50 metres.

It described the operation as "complex", with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts.

Rescue crews said they assume the six missing tourists will be found in the cabins, which they were unable to enter on Monday due to debris.

Bayesian was moored around half-a-mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank at about 5am local time on Monday as the area was hit by a storm.

Marco Tilotta, a firefighter who works as a specialist diver, previously Reuters news agency that entering the vessel is complicated by the fact it is lying on its right side, with "a world of objects" obstructing stairs that lead into the yacht’s cabins.

Photos show lifeboat in which 15 people escaped tragedy

Tuesday 20 August 2024 15:16

Photos taken in Porticello Harbour on the Sicilian coast, around half-a-mile from where the Bayesian sank, show the rapid inflatable emergency lifeboat which carried 15 people to safety following the sinking of the luxury yacht on Monday.

Captain of nearby ship says vessel 'sank in two minutes'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 16:02 , Jacob Phillips

The captain of a ship that rescued Bayesian passengers from the water before emergency services arrived has recalled watching the boat sink.

Captain Karsten Borner worked to keep his ship upright during the storm, before noticing the luxury yacht that had been near his vessel had disappeared.

He told Reuters: "I don't absolutely know what they did. I only know that they went flat with a mast on the water and that they sank in two minutes.”

He said the sea temperature was at around 30C - "way too hot for the Mediterranean, and this causes, for sure, heavy storms".

Staff at top London private school 'shocked' as ex-pupil among those missing

Tuesday 20 August 2024 16:07

A prestigious west London school is “incredibly shocked” over news an 18-year-old former pupil is among those missing after the Bayesian superyacht sunk off the coast of Sicily.

Hannah Lynch was on the superyacht with her father Mike Lynch and her mother Angela Bacares when it was struck by the violent storm in the early hours of Monday.

Hannah is a former pupil of £25,000-a-year Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith - a private school which counts Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant and Heston Blumenthal among alumni.Read about what the school said here.

Names of two more survivors confirmed

Tuesday 20 August 2024 17:17 , Daniel Keane

The Italian Coastguard has confirmed the names of two more survivors of the yacht sinking.

South African nationals Leah Randall and Katja Chicken worked as crew members on the Bayesian.

Coastguard confirms name of another crew member

Tuesday 20 August 2024 17:51 , Daniel Keane

The Italian Coastguard has confirmed the name of another crew member.

Spokesman Vincenzo Zagarola said Leo Eppel was on board the yacht that sank.

Watch: 'Bill Gates of Britain’ Mike Lynch missing from superyacht Bayesian

Tuesday 20 August 2024 18:21 , Daniel Keane

Rescue teams 'could be listening for timed banging noise'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 18:36 , Daniel Keane

Rescue teams trying to access the submerged Bayesian yacht could be listening out for a timed banging noise, a senior university lecturer has said.

Dr Jean-Baptiste Souppez, who teaches mechanical, biomedical and design engineering at Aston University, said: "A sign the rescuers may be looking for is a banging noise at regular intervals: this is common practice on submarines, and was one of the signs the search mission for the Titan submarine was looking for after it went missing last year."

He added the possibility of air pockets forming inside the vessel was "simply impossible to predict".

Neighbour describes Mike Lynch as 'very charitable man'

Tuesday 20 August 2024 19:03 , Daniel Keane

A neighbour of Mike Lynch has described the tycoon as a “very charitable man”.

Ruth Leigh, of Pettistree in Suffolk, said: "You'd see him driving about and he'd always wave and say hello and use your name.

"Once a year he'd host a party on the lawn and we'd all go to it.

"He's just a really nice person. I know that sounds a bit trite, but for a man in his position with every right he could have been quite lofty but he wasn't, he got involved.

"He used to come and speak at the church in the village on Remembrance Sunday.

"He was a very charitable man, he gave a lot of his time and effort which was good. We just had an incredibly high opinion of him."

Coastguard confirms name of body recovered from yacht

Tuesday 20 August 2024 20:07 , Daniel Keane

The body recovered from close to where the luxury yacht sank was that of Recaldo Thomas, the Italian coastguard told Sky News.

Gareth Williams a friend of the chef, who was reportedly Antiguan-Canadian, told the BBC: "I can talk for everyone that knew him when I say he was a well-loved, kind human being with a calm spirit."

A spokesperson for the Canadian foreign ministry said they were "aware of reports that a Canadian citizen has died" and said consular officials were in contact with local authorities but declined to offer any further information.

Mr Thomas had previously been named in reports as Ricardo Thomas.

Emergency teams will need to make 'big choice', says expert

Tuesday 20 August 2024 20:31 , Daniel Keane

Emergency teams trying to access the submerged Bayesian yacht will have to make "a big choice" as the rescue efforts intensify, a maritime diving and wreckage expert has said.

Bertrand Sciboz told BBC News: "I think 50 metres is a limit to dive with a certain category of professional divers, so you will need to dive with some kind of helmet and pipe and (be) connected to the surface for oxygen, and also for for speaking and hearing and telling what you see and and do.

"It's always very difficult, and especially with a sailing vessel, because you've got rope everywhere, you've got a sail which is floating in the current, because we are in Mediterranean Sea and not in the English Channel.

"But the main thing, you know, it's the fact that in those kind of conditions, it's very hard to go inside the wreck, and they will have to have to make a big choice at one moment, of salvaging the whole wreck or rescuing the bodies."