Shipping accident
Sinking off Sicily: A party turns into a nightmare
A luxury yacht sinks in a storm off the coast of Sicily, survivors describe dramatic scenes. Among the missing are the “British Bill Gates” and his 18-year-old daughter.
It was supposed to be Mike Lynch’s “second life”. “The question is: what do you do with it?” the British tech entrepreneur pondered after his completely surprising acquittal in a fraud trial in the USA. Now Mike Lynch is missing: The 59-year-old was on board the luxury yacht “Bayesian”, which sank in a storm off Sicily sank.
Divers are also searching for his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and four other people, two married couples, at a depth of around 50 meters. 15 passengers were rescued and one body was found; it is believed to be the ship’s cook.
Survivors report dramatic scenes. “I couldn’t keep my eyes open in the water. I called for help, but all I heard was the screams of the others,” says a New Zealander named Charlotte. She works for a law firm that represented Lynch in the trial. Her one-year-old daughter was on board with her: “I held her above water with all my strength, stretching my arms up so she wouldn’t drown.”
The British tabloid newspaper “Daily Mirror” ran the headline: “Hero mother saves baby from sea hell.” The woman’s partner also survived, as did Lynch’s wife. A total of 22 people were on board the “Bayesian”, twelve guests and ten employees.
Lynch was acquitted in the USA
Lynch is referred to as the “British Bill Gates” by tabloid media in his home country. He is co-founder of the software company Autonomy, which was sold to the US company Hewlett Packard in 2011 for eleven billion US dollars (currently 9.94 billion euros). The trial in San Francisco revolved around this deal.
The Autonomy purchase is considered one of the worst takeover debacles in Silicon Valley. Lynch and former financial manager Steve Chamberlain – who was fatally hit by a car while jogging just a few days before the shipping accident – are said to have deceived Hewlett-Packard about the company’s financial condition. But the jury saw it differently – and surprisingly decided to acquit.
Friends and supporters invited
Lynch apparently wanted to celebrate his court victory on the yacht. He invited friends and supporters onto the “Bayesian”. According to the BBC, the missing people are a financial manager who testified for Lynch, a lawyer and their partners. The head of the specialist insurer Hiscox confirmed that the chairman of the board, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife were missing.
The ship’s name pays tribute to the British mathematician Thomas Bayes (1701-1761), whom Lynch had praised in the past. The so-called Bayesian inference is considered the basis for modern artificial intelligence and computer analysis.
But what began as a party on the luxury yacht off the picturesque coast of Sicily ended dramatically. The huge ship was anchored half a nautical mile off the port of Porticello on Monday night. In the early morning, the north coast of Sicily was hit by a severe storm with strong winds. A so-called water tornado hit the ship. This weather phenomenon creates strong ground eddies. When the waterspout hit the ship, the 75-meter-high mast broke.
It is unclear why the ship was anchored half a nautical mile off the coast in the difficult weather conditions. “We didn’t see it coming,” the newspaper “La Repubblica” quoted the captain of the “Bayesian” as saying. He is also being treated in hospital.
“It all happened very quickly”
According to the authorities’ initial findings, the ship capsized immediately afterwards. Apparently so quickly that not all passengers were able to escape from their cabins on the lower deck. The German captain of a nearby ship that came to the aid of the survivors and took them on board described the accident to Italian media: “First the boat tipped over on its side and within a few minutes it had sunk. It all happened very quickly.”
The “Bayesian” was built in 2008 at the Perini Navi shipyard in Tuscany, as the newspaper “La Repubblica” reports. It has been renovated and has been used for luxury cruises since 2020. The ship is 56 meters long and eleven meters wide. The large yacht offers space for a total of twelve guests in six cabins, including a luxurious master suite.
Difficult search
The search for the missing people is proving difficult. According to the fire department, special divers ordered from the Italian mainland managed to penetrate the interior of the wreck and examine some rooms below the command bridge. However, numerous obstacles block their way, and the narrow space also poses difficulties.
The fire department’s diving teams consist of two specialised cave divers who stay at the depth for twelve minutes before ascending, and who constantly alternate with another team. They are currently looking into opening the wreck underwater to gain access. Access to the cabins on the lower deck, where the missing people are believed to be, is still blocked.