The body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch was retrieved on Thursday from the wreckage of his family yacht that sank earlier this week off the coast of Sicily. Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah remains unaccounted for, and the search for her continues. The tragedy occurred during a violent storm that struck the Mediterranean Sea.
The bodies of four other passengers were recovered from the yacht on Wednesday. Rescue crews brought four body bags ashore at Porticello, a port town near Palermo, Sicily. A fifth body was located, and divers are working to recover it. The discovery shifted the focus from a rescue operation to a recovery effort, as the amount of time that has passed and the lack of signs of life over three days of searching made survival unlikely.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-meter superyacht, was anchored off the port of Porticello when it was engulfed by the storm in the early hours of Monday. Lynch, 59, had invited friends and family to join him on the yacht to celebrate his acquittal in June in a major U.S. fraud trial. Besides Lynch and his daughter, those lost include Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo, and the onboard chef, Recaldo Thomas. Thomas’s body was found near the wreck on Monday.
Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, survived the disaster. Authorities believe it’s possible Hannah Lynch’s body was swept out to sea. The families of those missing have not yet publicly commented on the tragedy.
Fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari warned that it could take time to locate the last missing person due to the challenging conditions. Divers are facing difficulties accessing all areas of the sunken yacht, which is lying on its side at a depth of 50 meters.
A judicial investigation has been launched into the disaster, which has baffled naval marine experts. They are questioning how a yacht like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, could have sunk in such a storm. Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group which owns Perini, stated that the Bayesian was “one of the safest boats in the world” and blamed the crew for failing to follow proper safety procedures. The captain, James Cutfield, and his eight surviving crew members have not publicly commented on the disaster.
Specialist rescuers have been searching inside the hull of the sunken yacht for the past three days in extremely challenging conditions. The fire brigade compared the efforts to those undertaken on a larger scale for the Costa Concordia, a luxury cruise liner that capsized off the Italian island of Giglio in 2012, killing 32 people.
Once the final body is recovered, experts will have to decide whether, or how, to salvage the vessel. The CEO of the Italian Sea Group said the yacht’s automatic tracking system suggested it took 16 minutes from the storm’s initial impact to the sinking. Investigators are focusing on identifying potential entry points for water, such as open doorways or hatches, particularly a main door located on the left side of the yacht.
Under maritime law, the captain is fully responsible for the ship, the crew, and the safety of all those aboard. The captain of the Costa Concordia is serving a 16-year prison sentence for his role in the 2012 disaster after admitting to sailing too close to underwater rocks.
