The boss of the firm that built the Bayesian has claimed the crew had 16 minutes to warn passengers as the superyacht ‘dragged its anchor’ before sinking – as a live tracker showed a nearby boat following a similar course.
The superyacht capsized and sank after being struck by an over-sea tornado known as a waterspout off Sicily at around 3am GMT on Monday. Six bodies have been recovered, with Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, still missing.
A witness said they saw the vessel go down in 60 seconds, pointing to a sudden, catastrophic event that may have been difficult for the crew to foresee or respond to.
But Giovanni Costantino, CEO of Italian Sea Group – which owns the company that built the ship – insisted it took 16 minutes from the moment the boat was caught by the wind and began dragging its anchor before it finally sank, which should have given the crew enough time to warn passengers.
He told the FT: ‘The torture lasted 16 minutes. It went down, not in one minute as some scientists have said. It went down in 16 minutes. You can see it from the charts, from the AIS [Automatic Identification System] tracking chart.’
AIS data from the website Marine Traffic analysed by verifies Mr Costantino’s timings, although it is not currently possible to confirm his account of what happened during this period.
The chart also shows a second boat, Sir Robert Baden Powell, following a similar course to the Bayesian at the same time. The vessel remained afloat during the storm and went on to help rescue survivors.
Its captain, a Dutch sailor called Karst Börner, told an Italian broadcaster: ‘The weather forecast included thunderstorms and that can sometimes be strange in the Mediterranean. We were somewhat prepared for it.’
He said the waterspout was ‘very strong and intense’, and added: ‘We had a hard time keeping the ship in place with the engine and anchor. The yacht was behind us. We looked every now and then to see where they were. At one point, it disappeared.’
It comes as:
Mr Constantino told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera there were a long list of human errors leading up to the tragedy, including hatches being left open and the ship’s keel not being fully lowered.
He claimed the disaster was avoidable, adding: ‘Ask yourself – why were no fishermen from Porticello out that night? A fisherman reads the weather conditions and a ship doesn’t?
‘The storm was in all the weather charts. It couldn’t have been ignored.’
Earlier a spokesman for the company told ‘procedures were not followed’ on the luxury vessel and the sinking was down to ‘portholes being left open despite bad weather being forecast hours earlier’.
A spokesperson said: ‘The Bayesian was built to a very high standards and it would not have sunk if proper procedures had been followed by the crew.
‘A storm had been forecast earlier, no fishing boats went out and yet the portholes were not shut, the yacht sank because it was engulfed by a massive amount of water through open portholes.
‘The yacht was built to withstand whatever the conditions were. The mast has nothing to do with what happened, it was built that way when it was launched and it had a refit in 2020 in Spain, the yacht sank because procedures in bad weather were not followed.’
The Bayesian was 56m long, had a 74m mast and was built in 2008 with David Hutchinson, captain of its sister ship Rosehearty, telling Boat International ‘she was bulletproof’.
Mike Lynch is among the five bodies that have so far been recovered from the wreck.
His 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still missing with the coastguard working on the theory she is still inside the vessel.
Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith, Mr Lynch’s lawyer Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda have also been identified.
It brings the total number of confirmed deaths to six after the body of chef Recaldo Thomas was discovered on the day of the sinking.
Nick Barke, head of salvage operations at Boats.co.uk, today said that the ‘only real way of knowing’ why the yacht sank will be to lift it to the surface, but that would be ‘expensive and complicated process’, likely to involve a crane barge.
He said divers would attach straps to the boat before it is lifted upright and then hauled out of the water.
He predicted this would be ‘time-consuming’ as ‘they have to do it in such a way that they don’t damage anything too badly.’
But Vincenzo Zagarola, of the Italian Coastguard, said raising the superyacht is not a ‘topic on the agenda’, but added: ‘It will be, but not now.’
This morning the Italian Coastguard confirmed the final person yet to be found was a woman.
The fire rescue service said it would ‘need a crystal ball’ to know when they would find ‘the next body’ as dive teams can take up to 24 hours just to move one meter due to the difficulty of moving around inside the wreckage.
A source close to the operation said 59-year-old Mr Lynch’s body was brought to shore this morning.
A fire service boat with flashing blue lights returned this morning with a blue body bag to Porticello at just after 8.45am local time.
Brent Hoberman, a friend of Mr Lynch’s for 28 years, says his death is ‘unbelievably tragic’ and his friends and family had been ‘hoping for a miracle’.
He told Sky News: ‘We knew it was unlikely but you still hold out hope.
‘It’s just so unbelievably tragic for him to go through what he went through over the last 12 years, defending his name and not really living a full life, to now for his death to be confirmed is obviously incredibly sad.’
He said he hoped close friends were rallying around My Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares – who survived the tragedy – to give her ‘courage and strength’.
Search teams made the tragic discoveries of the other four bodies yesterday while scouring through the ruins of luxury sailboat Bayesian, which is resting on the seabed at a depth of 164ft.
The fifth body was discovered late last night, but dive teams were unable to bring it to shore before night fell.
Luca Cari, spokesperson for the fire rescue service, told the Associated Press ‘we would need a crystal ball to know when we’ll be able to find the next body’.
‘It’s very difficult to move inside the wreckage. Moving just one meter can take up to 24 hours,’ Cari said.
The Royal Academy of Engineering paid tribute to its ‘mentor, donor and former council member’ Mr Lynch following his death, while technology industry group TechUK called him a ‘hugely significant and pioneering figure’.
Mr Lynch was also a member of the Create The Change fundraising board, set up by Cancer Research UK and which helped fund the building of the Francis Crick Institute.
Its chairman Lord John Browne said: ‘Mike Lynch should be remembered as the person who catalysed a breed of deep tech entrepreneurs in the UK.
‘His ideas and his personal vision were a powerful contribution to science and technology in both Britain and globally.
‘I send my condolences to those close to him. We have lost a human being of great ability.’
Mr Bloomer was previously an honorary treasurer at NSPCC.
Today, the children’s charity’s chairman Neil Berkett paid tribute to the 70-year-old and his wife Judy.
‘We remember Jonathan from his time with us as a very kind individual with a great sense of humour and Judy as formidable and passionate,’ he said.
‘We are so grateful for everything they did for children and the NSPCC and our thoughts are with their family, friends and colleagues at this desperately sad time.’