A rescue boat from the Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian fire service, is in operation off Porticello near Palermo on August 20, 2024, one day after the sinking of the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian.
Alberto Pizzoli | Afp | Getty Images
Special divers resumed the search for the six missing passengers on Wednesday after a superyacht sank in a storm early Monday morning, killing one person.
Missing are British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International CEO Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, charity trustee Judy Bloomer, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo.
The Italian Coast Guard confirmed to Sky News on Tuesday that the man who died in the incident was Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan chef.
According to eyewitnesses and survivors, the ship was violently rocked by a storm at around 4 a.m. local time on Monday while anchored near the Sicilian port of Porticello. After capsizing, it sank quickly.
Lynch was acquitted by a U.S. court less than three months ago on 15 charges, including conspiracy and wire fraud, related to the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard. Lynch had long denied artificially inflating the company’s value before the $11.7 billion sale and was set to be extradited from the U.K. to stand trial in the U.S. in 2023.
Mike Lynch, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Autonomy division, speaks at a conference on Thursday, April 25, 2013.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg |
The voyage on the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian was said to be a celebration of Lynch’s acquittal. Morvillo represented Lynch in the case, while Bloomer – who serves in a non-executive capacity as chairman of Morgan Stanley’s European office – testified for the defense.
Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was on the ship and was rescued along with 14 others, including a one-year-old baby and his parents.
Rescue teams are reporting difficulties in accessing the wreck, which lies at a depth of about 50 metres. Divers said the ship appears to be intact, but narrow access points, thick glass windows and a number of objects and electrical cables are hampering access.
On Tuesday, rescue officials said fire service divers were examining the wreckage and had gained access to some rooms under the control panel. However, access to the cabins remained difficult and the presence of the missing people could not be confirmed, the fire service added.
Bayesian, a 56-meter-long sailboat that later sank off the Sicilian capital of Palermo, is seen in this image obtained from social media on August 18, 2024 in Santa Flavia, Italy.
Baia Santa Nicolicchia | Fabio La Bianca | Via Reuters
In a separate incident on Saturday, Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president of finance and a co-defendant in the Lynch case, died when he was hit by a car while jogging in Cambridgeshire, England, Chamberlain’s lawyer told Reuters.
