What began as a luxurious holiday for British tech titan Mike Lynch and his guests turned into a nightmare when their luxury yacht sank after being struck by a tornado off the coast of Sicily. The 56-meter yacht, named the “Bayesian” and flying under a British flag, was anchored about half a mile from the port of Porticello on the Mediterranean island when it was hit by the tornado around 5 a.m. on Monday morning.
The incident has left six people missing, including Mike Lynch, the founder of software giant Autonomy. Among those missing are four Britons and two Americans. The yacht was carrying 22 people in total, and so far, 15 people have been rescued, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and a one-year-old girl who was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Palermo. Unfortunately, one body was found on the hull of the yacht, and several others are feared to be trapped inside the sunken vessel.
The search and rescue operations have been intense, with divers navigating the wreckage of the yacht, which now lies 49 meters (160 feet) below sea level. The Italian fire brigade has dispatched helicopters to assist in the search, and the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is deploying a team of inspectors to Palermo to conduct a preliminary assessment of the accident.
The tragedy unfolded amidst severe weather conditions across Sicily. A small waterspout, one of several types of tornadoes, developed over the area, and torrential rainfall swept across the region late Sunday, dumping more than 100 mm of rain in less than four hours in Brolo, east of Palermo. The weather forecast had warned of potential strong winds, and the yacht’s crew, along with other vessels in the area, battled the fierce gales that swept through the Mediterranean.
One survivor, Charlotte, 35, described her harrowing experience of holding onto her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, amidst the chaos. “In two seconds, I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amidst the fury of the waves. I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy,” she recounted to journalists. Her story echoes the terror and desperation felt by those on board as the yacht sank.
The “Bayesian,” owned by the Isle of Man-registered Revtom Limited company, was mostly carrying British passengers and crew, along with two Anglo-French, one Irish, and one Sri Lankan individual. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that two of its citizens were involved in the incident, though they were not among those still missing.
The yacht’s 72-meter aluminum mast reportedly snapped during the storm, contributing to the vessel’s sinking. Despite the challenging conditions, the captain of a nearby boat managed to avoid crashing into the “Bayesian” by starting his engine and steering away. “After the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone,” he told reporters.
Mike Lynch, one of Britain’s most prominent entrepreneurs, had been plagued by legal troubles since 2011 when he sold his company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11 billion. In June, he was acquitted of fraud by a jury in San Francisco, but his legal battles had cast a shadow over his once-stellar career. Despite this, Lynch was widely respected in academic and scientific circles and had advised the British government on technology and innovation.
The tragedy off the coast of Sicily has left many questions unanswered, and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident. Authorities are looking into whether human error could have played a role in the sinking or if the circumstances were entirely beyond the crew’s control. As the search for the missing continues, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable power of nature and the fragility of life at sea.
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