Body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch among those recovered from yacht wreckage, officials say
The Italian coast guard said the body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch is among those recovered off the coast of Sicily from the wreckage of a superyacht whose builders had called unsinkable.
One woman remains missing. She has not been identified, but Hannah Lynch, Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, is reportedly unaccounted for. The family had been celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with the people who defended him at trial in the United States.
Five others were recovered by rescue crews following Monday’s tragedy.
British tech giant Mike Lynch, his lawyer and four other people are among those missing after their luxury superyacht sank during a freak storm off Sicily early on Monday, August 19, 2024. (Composite)
The Bayesian, a 56-metre British-flagged yacht, went down in a storm early on Monday as it was moored about a kilometre offshore. Civil protection officials said they believe the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.
Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office investigators were collecting evidence for a criminal investigation, which they opened immediately after the tragedy despite no formal suspects having been publicly identified.
The chief executive of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian’s manufacturer, told AP in an interview on Thursday that superyachts like these are “designed to be unsinkable.”
“And it is unsinkable not only because it is designed in this way, but also because it is a sailing ship and sailing ships are the safest ever,” CEO Giovanni Costantino said.
The five people pulled from the wreck of the Mike Lynch superyacht have been indentified. (Nine)This picture taken from video released by the Italian Coast Guard on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, shows the rescue operations in the stretch of Sea near Palermo, Sicily, in southern Italy, where the sail yacht Bayasian under UK flag sank early Monday. (Italian Coast Guard via AP, HO) (AP)
Costantino added that “obviously they must not hit the rocks violently, discarding the hull, and they must not take in water,” suggesting the second possibility was the most likely in this case.
Costantino also noted that sailing ships require “a greater competence” to be guided compared with motor boats.
The 56-metre (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian was known for its single 75-metre mast, one of the world’s tallest made of aluminium. (Perini Navi)
Investigators are now looking at why the Bayesian, built in 2008 by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived by escaping in a lifeboat, including a mother who reported holding her 1-year-old baby over the waves to save her. They were rescued by the sailboat Sir Robert Baden Powell.
Lynch is the only person confirmed dead; the other bodies have not been formally identified by the Italian coast guard.
Besides Hannah Lynch, those missing are Christopher Morvillo, one of Lynch’s US lawyers, and his wife, Neda; Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy.
The body of chef Recaldo Thomas was the first to be recovered, on Monday. His death was confirmed by his family.
