British tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter are among six people missing after a superyacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily – with one person confirmed to have died.
Twenty-two people were on board the vessel, 15 of whom were rescued – including Briton Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter Sofia.
Four other Britons and two Americans remain missing, including Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, according to Italian media. The entrepreneur’s wife Angela Bacares was rescued.
Here’s what we know about the sinking of the luxury vessel so far.
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What might have caused the sinking?
The British-flagged luxury vessel, named the Bayesian, capsized at around 4.30am local time off Palermo, according to ship-tracking site Marine Traffic.
It sank with 22 people on board – 12 passengers and a crew of 10, according to the Italian coastguard.
Waterspouts, essentially tornados which form over water, were seen as powerful winds battered the area overnight, local media said.
The yacht may have also tipped over more easily with all the doors open due to the hot weather, Sailing Today magazine editor Sam Jefferson has said.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
What are waterspouts?
Waterspouts typically occur during thunderstorms and can develop very rapidly, within minutes.
Their spin generally reaches wind speeds between 75-200mph, but can reach as high as 300mph.
They can travel at around 10-20mph typically but can reach greater speeds, making them difficult to avoid – especially in something as slow-moving as a yacht.
Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, called the reports of a tornado or waterspout “rare” and “quite alarming”.
“The vessel was at anchor in a recognised anchorage,” Mr Schanck said.
“Depending on wind direction and the state of the sea, this informs the captain whether it is a safe area to anchor or not. There was nothing that was too concerning, for my eye. All in all, the captain used the information they had to make a safe call.”
Who owns the yacht?
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among those missing.
The 59-year-old owner of the yacht is known as the “British Bill Gates” and has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.
In June, a US jury cleared him of all charges, which were related to the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP).
HP accused him of deliberately overstating the value of the company before it was acquired by the American tech giant.
Mr Lynch was extradited to the US to face trial in May last year and spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco as he awaited trial on 17 charges of conspiracy and wire fraud brought by the US Department of Justice – which were later reduced to 15 charges. He always denied any wrongdoing and was acquitted.
Who was on board when the boat sank?
The vessel had passengers from Britain, America and Canada, the Italian coastguard said.
Most of those on board were British, Italian news outlets have reported, adding that the others were from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Ireland.
Charlotte Golunski was among the Britons rescued. Her LinkedIn profile says she is a partner at Mr Lynch’s firm Invoke Capital and has worked there since 2012.
Speaking after the ordeal, Ms Golunski told Italian media that she lost her daughter Sofia for “two seconds” amid the “fury” of the sea but was able to retrieve her. She said she held the infant above the waves until the lifeboat was ready.
“Many people screamed. Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us were able to get on board,” she told ANSA.
The girl’s father James Emsley also survived, according to Sicily’s civil protection agency.
Also on board were Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley, his wife Judy Bloomer, a top US lawyer Chris Morvillo, who worked on Mr Lynch’s criminal case, and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Ricardo Thomas, who was believed to be the on-board chef, has been found dead, Sicilian authorities told Canadian broadcaster CBC. He was reportedly from Canada but was living in Antigua.
Eight of those rescued were transferred to local hospitals and all were in stable condition, local media reported.
During rescue efforts, divers saw “corpses through the portholes” of the wreck as they recovered the body of a man at a depth of 50m (164ft), according to Salvo Cocina, the head of the Civil Protection of Sicily.
What do we know about the vessel?
The Bayesian was known for its unusual 75m (246ft) single mast – one of the world’s tallest made of aluminium – and shared its name with the statistical method Mr Lynch’s Autonomy software was based on.
It was built by Italian company Perini Navi in 2008 and last refitted in 2020.
It was listed for rent for up to €195,000 (£166,000) a week, according to online charter sites.
The luxury vessel, which was managed by yachting company Camper & Nicholsons, can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites.
It won a string of awards for its design, according to online specialist yacht sites.
Mr Schanck said the vessel would have been equipped with “high standard” life-saving appliances and radio communications. He added the yacht would have met all international standards and UK maritime coastguard agency regulations before its voyage.
The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “at anchor”, according to vessel tracking site VesselFinder.
The Bayesian previously travelled to other parts of Sicily before its last sighting off the coast of the port of Porticello.
On Sunday, the boat was seen off the coast of Cefalu before it travelled towards Porticello, MarineTraffic data shows.
In the days before, the yacht travelled around four of the Aeolian islands, just north of Sicily.
It was previously named Salute, or “health” in Italian, when it flew under a Dutch flag. Its minimalist interior featured light wood with Japanese accents designed by the French designer Remi Tessier, according to descriptions on charter sites.
Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation into the sinking.
