The Sicily Bayesian boat sinks – how tragedy unfolded

One dead and six missing after luxury yacht capsizes in bad weather off Sicily coast

The 56-metre British-flagged Bayesian carrying 22 people – 12 passengers and 10 crew – was caught in heavy storm water early Monday morning.

Fifteen people have been rescued and a search is underway for the unaccounted for, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch.

Here’s what we know about the tragedy so far and how it unfolded.

Eyewitnesses say Bayesian was hit by a sudden and powerful storm early Monday morning.

It was said to have anchored in the sea basin outside the harbor at Porticello, a small fishing village east of Palermo, in what the Italian Coast Guard described as a “violent storm”.

The storm was so severe that it caused swirling columns of water or wind and fog to appear over the ocean.

Witnesses told the Italian news agency Ansa that Bayesian’s anchor fell during the storm, snapping the 72m (236ft) aluminum mast in half and causing the vessel to lose balance and sink.

It disappeared under water at 05:00 local time (04:00 BST).

Carsten Borner, the captain of a nearby boat, noticed that the crew had disappeared after the storm had passed.

“We saw a red volcano, so my first mate and I went over there and saw this life raft floating,” he told Reuters.

His crew took a few survivors on board, including three who were seriously injured.

Another witness, Fabio Cefalu, the captain of the trawler, said he was staying at the harbor when he saw the lightning when he was about to go fishing.

“At 4:15 a.m. we saw a spark in the sea,” he said, EVN news agency reports.

“We waited for this water to pass. After 10 minutes we went out to sea and saw the cushions and everything else on the boat. [that had sunk]And all that was on deck, at sea. However, we did not see any people in the sea.

Another fisherman described the boat as “sinking before my eyes”.

Speaking to Giornale di Sicilia newspaper, the witness said he was at home when the typhoon hit.

“Then I saw the boat and it had only one mast and it was very big,” he said.

After a while he went to the bay of Santa Nicolichia in Porticello to get a better look at what was going on.

He added: “The boat was still floating and suddenly it disappeared. I saw it sink with my own eyes.”

One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Golunski, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica how she held onto her one-year-old daughter Sophia to prevent her from drowning.

He said he and his partner James only survived because they were on deck when the boat sank.

They were woken up by “thunder, lightning and waves that made our boat dance” and it felt like “the end of the world” before they were thrown into the water.

Charlotte said: “For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea and then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves.”

She added: “I kept her afloat with all my might, my arms reaching upwards to keep her from drowning.

“It was pitch black. I couldn’t open my eyes in the water. I screamed for help, but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”

There were 22 people on board when the storm hit, including 12 passengers and 10 crew members.

One body has been recovered. It has not been formally identified, but the Palermo Coast Guard said it was the ship’s cook. His citizenship has not been confirmed.

Among the six people still missing is 59-year-old tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, known by some as the “British Bill Gates.”

Mr Lynch founded the software company Autonomy in 1996 and was made an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006.

In June, he was cleared of a massive fraud involving an $11bn (£8.64bn) sale to US firm Hewlett-Packard.

Later, he He said in an interview with the BBC He was able to prove his innocence because he had the wealth to pay the enormous legal fees required.

Among the missing were Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International Bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, Sicily’s civil protection agency confirmed to the BBC.

La Repubblica reported that the six missing included four British nationals and two Americans.

Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bagarese is among the 15 rescued, eight of whom are being treated in hospital, the Italian coast guard said.

Charlotte Golunsky, her husband and daughter Sophia were also rescued and unharmed, but were taken to hospital for evaluation.

She said they were on a boat with a group of colleagues.

Daily Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper said the ship was mostly British passengers, but also New Zealand, Sri Lankan, Irish and British-French nationals.

A doctor based in Palermo said survivors were “very tired” and “keep hearing about the missing”.

Dr Domenico Cipolla told Reuters a woman he treated described the trip as a “corporate holiday”, with some “very young people”.

“A lot of work colleagues, friends, a few husbands, wives or a couple of friends joined,” she adds.

Six passengers were missing and the Palermo coastguard said a “non-stop” search-and-rescue operation was continuing.

Police divers identified a wreck about 50 meters below the surface.

Four patrol boats, a helicopter and a team of divers were involved in the search on Monday. A navy and underwater team from the Palermo Fire Brigade also joined.

Footage from the wreck site showed helicopters hovering over several Coast Guard vessels as divers dressed in bright orange descended into the water.

Francesco Venuto, a spokesman for Sicily’s civil protection agency, told the BBC on Monday that rescue teams feared the bodies of the missing “must be” on the boat.

“We’ve been searching all day with helicopters and boats and we’ve found nothing. It’s pointless, at this stage we should have found something by now,” he added.

On Monday, the UK’s Maritime Accident Investigation Branch sent a team of four investigators to carry out an initial Bayesian assessment of the sinking, the BBC understands.

The rescue operation will resume at 06:30 local time (05:30 BST) on Tuesday, said Salvatore Cocina, director general of Sicily’s civil protection agency.

A special cave search-and-rescue diving team arrived from Rome on Monday, hoping to “reach results” overnight or by Tuesday morning, he said.

A waterspout is similar to a hurricane and can form in oceans, seas, or large lakes.

The western part of the Mediterranean has been hit by heavy storms since the middle of last week.

On Sunday night and into Monday morning, bad weather passed along the northern coast of Sicily.

BBC weather forecaster Matt Taylor said: “A waterspout is a cyclone that occurs over water rather than land.

“They can form at the base of cumulonimbus/thunder clouds during intense storms.

“Turbulence and wind blowing in slightly different directions around the cloud can cause circulation at the base of the cloud and droplet formation.

“Like hurricanes, they bring powerful winds, but instead of picking up dust and debris, they create water mist around the rotating air column.”

The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six cabins and is listed for rent for up to 195,000 euros (£166,000) per week.

It was built in 2008 by the Italian company Perini Navi.

Bayesian’s registered owner is listed as Revdome Ltd, based in the Isle of Man.

The boat’s name derives from Bayesian theory, which was based on Mr Lynch’s PhD thesis and the software that made his fortune.

Mr Lynch’s wife, Mrs Bakeres, is named as the sole legal owner of Revdom, which is registered in the Isle of Man.

According to vessel tracking website VesselFinder, the Bayesian completed several sailings in recent days, calling at various ports in Sicily.

A spokesman for Camper and Nicholsons International, the company that manages the 2008-built boat, told BBC Verify: “Our priority is to assist the ongoing search and provide all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew.”