Key Points
- A luxury yacht capsized off Sicily, leaving one dead and six missing, including UK tech magnate Mike Lynch.
- Fifteen people have been rescued and eight were hospitalised after storm hit the 56m yacht.
- The Bayesian, notable for its tall mast, was moored near Porticello when a waterspout struck.
The ship had overturned around 5am local time (1pm AEDT) on Monday off the port of Porticello when a tornado over the water known as a waterspout struck the area Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency said.
The passengers were guests of Lynch, who is sometimes referred to as the British Bill Gates, and were joining him to celebrate his acquittal in the case.
Health workers carry a body bag on the pier as rescue operation continues for the missing people who were on board. Source: ANSA / Igor Petyx
Police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was resting at a depth of 50 metres off Porticello, near Palermo, where it had been anchored, rescue authorities said.
The Bayesian was notable for its single 75-metre mast, one of the world’s tallest made of aluminium, and which was lit up at night just hours before it sank.
Italian police officers stand at the port as the search continues for six missing passengers. Source: AFP / Alessandro Fucarini
Online charter sites list it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $321,000) a week.
One body believed to be the cook was found near the wreck, but six others were unaccounted for and believed inside the hull, a spokesperson for the Italian fire rescue service said.
Authorities said the crew and passengers hailed from a variety of countries. In addition to Britain and the US, passengers and crew were from Antigua, France, Germany, Ireland, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain.
Reportedly owned by Lynch’s family, “Bayesian” was built by Italian shipbuilding firm Perini Navi in 2008.
Who is Mike Lynch — the British ‘Bill Gates’?
He founded the company in 1996 in Cambridge, where he earned his doctorate, and turned it into a leading British tech firm.
UK businessman Mike Lynch, who was recently acquitted in the US of a $16.3 billion fraud, is among those who are missing. Source: AFP / Ben Gurr
But just one year after the mega-deal, HP reported a write-down of US$8.8 billion ($13 billion) — including more than $5 billion ($7.4 billion) it attributed to inflated data from Autonomy — plunging Lynch into a decade-long fraud scandal.
But in June, he was acquitted on all charges.
Source Agencies
