Search to resume for remaining person missing after luxury yacht disaster

The search will resume for the remaining person missing after a luxury yacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily following the discovery of five bodies inside the wreck.

Six people, including technology tycoon Mike Lynch, were unaccounted for after the vessel – named Bayesian – sank at around 5am on Monday.

Salvatore Cocina, the head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, confirmed that of the five bodies found on Wednesday, only four had been recovered, and the whereabouts of the missing sixth person remain unknown.

Identities of the recovered bodies have not been confirmed by authorities, despite local and international media reporting some had been identified.

Body bags were seen being taken to the port of Porticello on Wednesday afternoon, with the process of bringing the fifth body to shore being described by Mr Cocina as “ongoing”.

He said searches will resume on Thursday morning, and that there will be an investigation in due course, but the priority is finding the missing.

As the body bags were taken back to the port, dozens of emergency services staff were waiting, and one bag was seen being put in the back of an ambulance.

Among those also named as missing were Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the Bayesian superyacht, was recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday.

Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping onto a lifeboat.

The captain of a yacht, the Sir Robert BP, who helped to rescue them, described how those aboard his vessel spotted the distress flare set off from a life raft.

Karsten Borner said his crew noticed the Bayesian had disappeared before a passenger spotted the flare.

He told Sky News: “We couldn’t see them any more and they disappeared from the radar, we were busy keeping our own ship sailing.

“We couldn’t see the ship again so we were aware something was very wrong.”

He said it was only when the tender set out that they found the life raft.

Mr Borner continued: “It turned out to be the life raft, a 12-person life raft with 15 people inside including one baby.

“They stepped over to our tender and we brought them back to our ship. There we took good care of them, gave them dry clothes, towels, blankets, tea and coffee and so on and took care of them.”

Inspections of the yacht’s internal hull took place on Wednesday morning.

A team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) also arrived in Porticello to look at the site of the sinking.

The MAIB is looking into what happened because the yacht Bayesian was flying a British flag, it is understood.

The Italian Coastguard said the MAIB is not involved in the search for the missing people, and that it has not been requested to assist.

The ship’s captain, James Cutfield, was reportedly quizzed by authorities for two hours as they began questioning all crew members.

Speaking to New Zealand media, Mr Cutfield’s brother Mark said his sibling was a “very good sailor” with eight years of experience working abroad on luxury yachts.

A helicopter was drafted in to help the search effort, as divers from the local fire service were seen entering the water with torches attached to their headgear.

A police boat and divers were also seen entering the water on Wednesday afternoon.

Fire crews from the Vigili del Fuoco said they have been accessing the vessel through natural entrances, without making openings.

Remotely controlled underwater vehicles are being used, with naval units and cave divers also taking part in the search, the Italian Coastguard has said.

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.

Vincenzo Zagarola, of the Italian Coastguard, previously said the missing tourists were feared dead.

The wreckage of the Bayesian is resting on the seabed off the coast at a depth of 50 metres (164ft).

Fire crews described the operation as “complex”, with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts.

Survivors have been recuperating at a hotel complex in Porticello, where authorities were gathering witness statements.

The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a fraud case in the US.

The businessman, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.

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

In a separate incident, Mr Lynch’s co-defendant in his US fraud trial, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.

Published: 22/08/2024 by Radio NewsHub