PORTICELLO, Italy (Reuters) – Divers resumed a search on Wednesday for survivors after British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s yacht sank off the coast of Sicily amid an intense storm two days in the past, although hopes dwindled of discovering the six lacking individuals alive.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) superyacht, was carrying 22 passengers and crew and was anchored off the port of Porticello, close to Palermo, when it capsized throughout a fierce, pre-dawn tempest on Monday.
Fifteen individuals survived, the physique of 1 one that died was recovered promptly, and 6 individuals stay unaccounted for, together with Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley Worldwide.
A Reuters photographer noticed coast guard rescue vessels go away Porticello early on Wednesday to move for the positioning of the incident, after the search was paused in a single day.
With the sunken boat mendacity at a depth of round 50 metres, makes an attempt to find survivors or our bodies have been troublesome.
Fireplace brigade officers say divers have solely 8-10 minutes on the wreck website earlier than having to resurface. Their efforts have been hampered by the “very confined” areas contained in the wreck, fireplace division spokesman Luca Cari mentioned.
Consultants have been at a loss to elucidate how a big luxurious vessel, presumed to have top-class fittings and security options, may have sunk inside minutes, as recounted by witnesses. One other yacht anchored subsequent to it was unhurt by the tempest.
Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, mentioned the Bayesian was the sufferer of a “high impact” and uncommon climate occasion.
“Looking at the extreme weather, if it was a water spout, which it appears to be, it’s what I would class as like a black swan event,” he instructed Reuters. “And even outside of the maritime industry, all industries struggle with the black swan events.”
He mentioned he was assured the authorities would “get to the bottom” of what induced the shipwreck, because of the accounts of survivors, witnesses and examination of the ship, which seems to have remained intact on the seabed.