The search for Hannah Lynch, the daughter of British tech magnate Mike Lynch, has tragically come to an end. Italian rescue divers have found her body after his family’s luxury yacht, the Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily. The 56-meter-long sailboat, carrying 22 passengers and crew, was anchored near Palermo when it capsized and rapidly sank after being struck by a pre-dawn storm on Monday.
The discovery of Hannah Lynch’s body, the only person still missing from the tragedy, brings a sense of closure to a harrowing search effort involving hundreds of people. The wreck of the Bayesian lies at a depth of 50 meters, with narrow passageways, making the recovery operation particularly challenging. The fire brigade described the rescue operations as “long and delicate,” with more than 400 people, including 28 specialist divers, involved.
The bodies of the other five dead passengers, including Mike Lynch, were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday from inside the yacht. The body of the only crew member who died, onboard chef Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreck on Monday. Official identification of the corpses and autopsies are expected to begin after the transfer of the last recovered body to a hospital morgue in Palermo.
The sinking of the Bayesian has baffled naval marine experts, who say a boat of its caliber, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm. A judicial investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the tragedy. The yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, his eight surviving crew members, and passengers have been questioned by police. Investigating prosecutors are due to hold a press conference on Saturday to share their findings.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini, has suggested that the shipwreck was the result of a series of “indescribable, unreasonable errors” made by the crew, ruling out any design or construction failings.
Salvaging the yacht, which is currently lying on its right side, apparently intact, is expected to be a complex and costly undertaking. Nick Sloane, a South African engineer who led the operation to salvage the Costa Concordia cruise liner, has estimated the salvage operation to cost up to 15 million euros ($16.7 million). He told daily La Repubblica that bringing the yacht to the surface will take six to eight weeks, and must be completed by mid-October, although he did not specify the reasons for this deadline. The process will be carried out very slowly, potentially taking a couple of days.
