Alert – Bayesian yacht sinks off Sicily latest: Divers vow to ‘recover the bodies’ after completing first search at superyacht wreck as operation to rescue six passengers including tech tycoon Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley chief Jonathan Bloomer continues

by Tom Cotterill

Specialist divers searching the wreck of the British superyacht Bayesian were among the team of rescuers scrambled to deal with the sinking of the Costa Concordia.

A frantic hunt is underway to find the six people still missing following the Bayesian’s shock sinking off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning.

The £30million luxury vessel – owned by British tech mogul Mike Lynch – capsized after being battered by tornado-forced wind.

Specialist divers are this morning resuming efforts to get into the wreck of the 187ft British-flagged vessel – with Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter among the passengers missing and now feared dead.

Italian news website il Giornale now reports that some of the frogmen deployed today also supported rescue efforts onboard the sunken cruise ship the Costa Concordia.

The Costa Concordia partially sank in January 2012 after it struck a rock off the coast of Tuscany, killing 33 people.

Here are the latest pictures as search efforts for the missing six passengers resumed off the coast of Sicily today.

Italian media has reported at least one diver has been completed with rescuers explaining a struggle to access the yacht to check the cabins

Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of tech tycoon Mike Lynch, was a student at Latymer Upper School, a private school in west London, The Telegraph has reported.

The father and daughter are among six passengers missing after the Bayesian yacht sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday.

Hannah is understood to have studied at the school from 2017 until this year and had been offered a place to study English Literature at Oxford University after completing her A-levels.

A spokesperson for the school told The Telegraph: ‘We are all incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic incident and our thoughts are with their family and everyone involved as we await further updates.

The Telegraph also reported Hannah won an award for outstanding academic achievement last year and that her parents were frequent donors to the school.

Former alumni at the school include actors Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman as well as chef Heston Blumenthal.

The British ambassador to Italy has expressed his sympathy for the families involved in the yacht sinking off the coast of Sicily.

Speaking outside a nearby hotel where he met survivors, Ed Llewellyn said:

My heart goes out to them.

I’ve spoken to some of the British survivors both yesterday and today — I want to express my deep sympathy from myself and colleagues at the British Embassy for what’s happened.

We’re doing what we can to support them in this incredibly sad and difficult situation to help them with contacts from the Italian authorities at a practical level.

by Laura Parkin

Gemma Collins has said she is ‘very lucky to have survived’ after getting caught up in the terrifying storm that hit Sicily on Monday.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are still missing after his luxury superyacht capsized near Porticello.

Six people, understood to be four Britons and two Americans, remain unaccounted for while 15 passengers were rescued by a nearby ship including a British mother and her one-year-old daughter. One body has been recovered.

Gemma, 43, and her nephew Hayden, 15, who were onboard another luxury ship, were left shaken after being stranded at sea for four hours.

In an update shared to Instagram, she wrote: ‘Holiday update. My heartfelt condolences to the people involved in the tragic disaster at sea in Sicily.’

Gemma continued: ‘I was very lucky me and my nephew to have survived the storm at sea.’

‘I am shaken and returning to the UK tomorrow god was on our side today we was stuck for 4 hours can you imagine what was going through my mind. Thank you @bluediamondcruise for getting us back safely.’

A boat carrying a team of divers has left the port of Porticello, near Palermo on Sicily, for a further search near the site where the luxury yacht Bayesian sank.

A boat from Vigili del Fuoco – the Italian fire service – was also seen leaving the port at around 11.30am local time on Tuesday.

The fire brigade said the entrance to the yacht on the seabed is complex with planning under way to ‘open’ easier access to it.

A local resident has shared CCTV footage of weather conditions on the island on the morning the Bayesian yacht sank.

Local Nino Minado showed the PA news agency CCTV footage which shows how extreme heavy wind and rain appeared to batter Porticello, shaking the camera.

Local fisherman Giuseppe Cefalu has told the PA news agency through a translator that he saw a “tornado” close to the port of Porticello on Monday morning.

See the video below:

A cancer charity has described Judy Bloomer as a ‘brilliant champion for women’s health’ as a friend and former colleague paid tribute to her.

Mrs Bloomer and her husband Jonathan, the chairman of Morgan Stanley International Bank and insurance company Hiscox, are among the six passengers missing after the Bayesian yacht sank on Monday.

Athena Lamnisos, CEO of the Eve Appeal, where Ms Bloomer was a trustee for six years until 2022, has told the BBC she is ‘deeply shocked to hear the news that our very dear friend and her husband Jonathan, are among those missing’.

Our thoughts are with Judy and Jonathan’s family, as well as all those who are still waiting for news after this tragic event.

The Eve Appeal is described on its website as the leading UK charity in raising awareness into the five gynaecological cancers – womb, ovarian, cervical, vulval and vaginal.

Divers have resumed the rescue operation for six passengers who are missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday.

Here’s everything you need to know as we approach the afternoon:

• The captain of the Bayesian told reporters ‘we didn’t see it coming’ in his first remarks since the yacht sinking as he recovers in hospital in Palermo
• Divers have vowed to ‘recover the bodies’ after they completed the first search at the Bayesian wreck and revealed plans to ‘penetrate’ the stricken vessel
• Rescuers warned the searches are ‘very complicated’ because a ‘world of objects’ are currently obstructing access to cabins where it is feared the six passengers may be
• More details are emerging on the passengers lost at sea with Morgan Stanley paying tribute to Jonathan Bloomer while ABC News has reported lawyer Christopher Morvillo is a former assistant US attorney for Southern District of New York
• Cambridgeshire Police have also released a statement from the family of Steve Chamberlain, a former colleague and co-defendant of Mike Lynch in his US fraud trial, who died in hospital after being hit by a car on Saturday

Stick with us as we bring you the latest news and reaction to this ongoing story.

Here is footage of two waterspouts – a twister over the sea – which is believed to have hit the Bayesian superyacht as it was anchored off Sicily.

The vessel’s mast broke, sinking the £30million boat and sparking a search mission for six passengers who were on board, including its British owner Mike Lynch. The disaster also resulted in the death of a crewmember.

On the same day as the tragedy, terrifying videos of huge waterspouts swirling over the Mediterranean were shared by locals and holidaymakers across southern Italy.

Tourists at beachside resorts have faced severe weather in recent days, with dramatic footage showing beaches and town centres ravaged by gale force winds.

Meteorologist Paolo Sottocorona, who is also a sailing instructor, explained the dangers of being at sea in the current conditions.

The warm sea seems pleasant, but heat from a physical point of view is energy. The Mediterranean at this moment is a gasoline tank. If you put a match in it, that is, a current of cold air like those of these days, it explodes.

The warmer the sea, the stronger the tornadoes. The most destructive tornadoes used to hit once every hundred years. Now we see one or more per year. Even meteorological models have a hard time predicting such intense events.

See the video below:

A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley said the bank was ‘shocked and saddened’ by news non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer (pictured above in 2002) was among those missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.

Mr Bloomer’s wife Judy is also among the six passengers yet to be located.

The bank spokesperson said:

We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy. Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular the Bloomer family, as we all wait for further news from this terrible situation.

US television network ABC News has reported Christopher Morvillo, one of two Americans missing on board the Bayesian yacht alongside his wife Neda, is a former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Mr Morvillo, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, was invited onto Mr Lynch’s £30 million superyacht after representing him during his recent fraud case brought by Hewlett Packard.

by Emily Jane Davies

After the £30million superyacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Italy on Monday morning, many questions have been raised as the desperate search effort continues.

The search for six missing people continues today with fears bodies are still trapped in the vessel which went down as British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his friends celebrated his acquittal in a US fraud trial.

Mr Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda are all still yet to be found.

The vessel had been anchored just 300 metres from the coast when it was hit by a suspected freak waterspout amid heavy thunderstorms near the city of Palermo at around 5am.

The boat – which had been carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers – went down quickly, with survivors found floating in a life raft describing how they swam for their lives.

But unanswered questions over the Bayesian sinking remain, including why it capsized when other boats stayed afloat.

Read the five unanswered questions here:

Divers have returned to the scene of the Bayesian wreck off the coast of Sicily earlier this morning.

We have just reported rescuers have completed their first dive of the day.

Rescuers have told Italian media they have completed their first dive of the day at the site of the Bayesian superyacht as they told reporters ‘ we will do everything we can to recover the bodies’.

Speaking to Quotidiano di Sicilia, a daily newspaper based in Sicily, Marco Tilotta, one of the firefighter divers, said:

We have just finished the first dive, now we will have a briefing and continue throughout the day. We have checked the hull from the outside, visibility is good, now our goal is to penetrate inside the vessel.

We will do everything we can – added the diver – to recover the bodies. The weather conditions are worsening, but we hope to continue the operations without problems.

by Tom Cotterill

British investigators are to fly out to Sicily to probe the shock sinking of the Bayesian superyacht.

The £30million luxury vessel – owned by British tech mogul Mike Lynch and packed with some of the latest maritime tech – went down off the coast of the Italian island early on Monday morning.

It had been anchored offshore from Porticello, having sailed from the seaside village of Cefalu, when it was hit by a freak waterspout caused by bad weather and sank near Palermo.

Specialist divers are this morning resuming efforts to get into the wreck of the 187ft British-flagged vessel – with six people, including Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, still missing and feared dead.

Meanwhile, four British personnel from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch are on their way to the Sicilian city of Palermo to carry out a preliminary assessment.

The team of UK experts will join a group of Italian specialists to try and work out exactly how the Bayesian – named after the mathematical theory Mike Lynch used to make his millions in the tech industry – went down.

One of the divers involved in the searches of the Bayesian has told how the operation is ‘complicated’ for rescuers because the yacht remains ‘practically intact’

Marco Tilotta, a firefighter diver from Palermo, said divers had struggled to gain access to the 180ft sailboat because of floating furnishings.

In an interview with Il Messaggero, he said:

It looked like a scenario similar to the Costa Concordia on a smaller scale. Unfortunately, these are very complicated searches.

When we went down to the water around 5:30am, we found a yacht that was practically intact. It is resting on its side on the starboard side. It has no gashes, no signs of impact.

Thirty-two passengers and crew died when the Costa Concordia cruise ship sank off the island of Giglio in 2012.

The Bayesian superyacht was not anchored in a safe place before it sank in the early hours of Monday morning, a local journalist has told Sky News.

Sicilian journalist Piero Messina suggested the boat was too far off the coast after it moored off Porticello, near Palermo.

He told Sky News:

The boat went down because the boat was anchored 500m from the coast of the little port of Santa Flavia, and that means that it was not in a safe place

Some fishermen told me that they had never seen a storm like that, but that it was not a safe place to stay – so far from the coast. I think the authorities will need to clarify what’s happened.

by David Averre

The captain of the doomed Bayesian luxury yacht that capsized and sank after being caught in a lethal waterspout off the coast of Sicily early yesterday has broken his silence on the disaster.

James Catfield was named by Italian media as one of fifteen crewmembers and passengers who were rescued from the raging seas by another ship after they bailed out of the superyacht.

The ship’s chef Ricardo Thomas was found dead in the sea by search teams yesterday.

Another five people, including British tech billionaire Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and the chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer, remain missing amid fears they were trapped inside the ship’s cabins.

Speaking from a hospital room in the town of Termini Imerese close to Palermo, the captain, in a state of grief and shock, could only utter one sentence.

‘We didn’t see it coming,’ he told La Repubblica

The captain of the Bayesian yacht has spoken for the first time since it sunk off the coast of Italy, telling reporters, ‘we didn’t see it coming’.

James Catfield spoke to Italian media while recovering at the Termini Imerese emergency unit.

Steve Chamberlain, a former colleague and co-defendant of Mike Lynch in his US fraud trial, died in hospital after being hit by a car on Saturday.

His lawyer revealed yesterday he was fatally injured just days before billionaire tech tycoon Mr Lynch went missing off the coast of Sicily when a superyacht was caught in a freak ‘whirlwind’.

Mr Chamberlain was Autonomy’s vice president of finance alongside the then chief executive Mr Lynch

He faced the same charges of fraud and conspiracy as his former boss for allegedly scheming to inflate a company’s value before it was sold. Both the men were acquitted of all 15 charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.

After leaving the company, Autonomy, in 2012, Chamberlain worked as chief operating officer for cybersecurity firm Darktrace and volunteered as a finance director for Cambridge United soccer club, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The family of Steve Chamberlain, 52, co-defendant in the US trial of missing tycoon Mike Lynch, have described him as a “much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend” in a tribute issued following his death after being hit by a car in Stretham, Cambridgeshire on Saturday.

In a statement released through Cambridgeshire Police, the family said:

Steve was a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend.He was an amazing individual whose only goal in life was to help others in any way possible.

He made a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. He will be deeply missed but forever in the hearts of his loved ones.

by Miriam Kuepper

The wife of missing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is now reportedly recovering from her injuries in a wheelchair whilst she is waiting for updates on her husband and 18-year-old daughter after Mr Lynch’s superyacht sunk.

Angela Bacares, 57, has revealed that the first sign of the freak waterspout that sunk the luxury sailboat Bayesian just before 5am this morning was a ‘slight tilt’ that woke her up.

Ms Bacares, who was among the fifteen people who were rescued from the 180ft ship, told Italian media that both her husband and their daughter Hannah, 18, are missing after the yacht sank as she anxiously waits for updates.

Mr Lynch’s wife told La Repubblica that she and her husband woke up at 4am when the boat suddenly ’tilted’.

Mrs Bacares said that they were not worried at the time, but that she still got up to see what was happening, until glass shattered and created confusion on board.

She sustained abrasions on her feet – likely after walking on glass shards during the sinking – which have left her unable to walk and sitting in a wheelchair, La Repubblica reports, while she also has bandages on others part of her body.

Divers searching the Bayesian shipwreck this morning face significant challenges as they resume operations to find six missing passengers on board the yacht.

The 180ft sailboat rested at a depth of 163 feet off Porticello where it had been anchored, rescue authorities said.

Luca Cari, one of the divers leading the effort, said rescuers can only search for 10 minutes per dive.

Speaking to Italian newspaper Giornale di Sicilia, he said:

They can stay underwater for a maximum of 12 minutes, two of which are needed to go up and down. So the real time to be able to carry out the search is 10 minutes per dive.

Mr Cari said divers had identified a glass window of the Bayesian in which they could enter, although it will need to be removed before the yacht can be accessed.

He added:

The spaces inside the sailing ship are very small and if you encounter an obstacle it is very complicated to move forward, just as it is very difficult to find alternative routes.

The boss of insurance group Hiscox said he is ‘deeply shocked and saddened’ as he confirmed the company’s non-executive chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife are among those missing on the yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily.

Aki Hussain, the group chief executive of Hiscox, said:

We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event.

Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation.

Mr Bloomer is also chairman of Morgan Stanley International and the former chief executive of Prudential.

A British maritime expert has today described the sinking of the Bayesian yacht as a ‘catastrophic incident’ that happened ‘very quickly’.

Matthew Shank, chairman of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, told BBC Radio 4 this morning there wasn’t much the captain or crew could do to prepare for the ‘rare weather event’ that struck the sailboat before it sank.

Given the rarity of these events there isn’t really much the captains or the crew could do to prepare for these events given how rare they are.

Reports that people who were in the life raft have had to enter the life raft from the water, and that indicates to me that this emergency has happened very, very quickly.

People haven’t had time to enter the life raft from the vessel, they’ve had to enter from the water.

Mr Shank added:

One of the captains from the anchorage said he saw the vessel there one minute and then the next minute the yacht was gone and all he saw was the red flare which indicates to me that this has been a catastrophic incident which has gone very quickly.

by Emily Jane Davies

A former Bayesian crew member has been left bewildered about how the luxury superyacht could sink as it has withstood choppy seas in the Atlantic previously.

When guests were celebrating the acquittal of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch aboard the £30million Bayesian, the 183ft yacht tragically sank off the coast of Italy.

Investigations are underway as to why the Bayesian sank when others in the vicinity remained afloat when disaster struck just before 5am on Monday.

The yacht’s former chief stewardess Monica Jensen (pictured), 48, said it is ‘a bit strange’ because she’s crossed the Atlantic on the boat and it withstood bad weather ‘all over’.

Ms Jensen worked on the Bayesian from November 2018 to October 2020 for a private owner, and said it was then sold.

She was onboard for two Caribbean seasons and cruised around Italy, Malta, Greece and the Balearics on the yacht.

She told The Telegraph:

It seems a bit strange. We have been in bad weather with it, crossed the Atlantic. It’s been all over. These things definitely don’t happen very often.’

A doctor in Palermo has told how the heartbroken survivors of the superyacht disaster in Sicily are ‘constantly asking about the missing people’ as six still remain unfound.

Doctor Domenico Cipolla, Director of Paediatric Admission and Medicine and Surgery at ‘Di Cristina’ hospital in Palermo, said the remaining survivors are continuously checking for news that their missing friends are okay.

The survivors are very tired and are constantly asking about the missing people. To my knowledge, there is only one body that has been found, the others are still missing.

We have given the survivors this information, but they are talking and crying all the time because they have realised that there is little hope of finding their friends alive.

See the video below:

Let’s take a look at the six missing passengers Italian rescuers are seaching for off the coast of Sicily today:

The six were among 12 passengers and 10 crew on board the Bayesian when it sank on Monday following a freak storm.

Mike Lynch

• In June, Mr Lynch won a 13-year legal fight and was cleared by a San Francisco court of conducting a massive fraud relating to a £8.64 billion sale of his firm, Autonomy, to US company Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
• If found guilty, it could have landed him 25 years in a US jail.
• The entrepreneur – who also owns a home in Chelsea – had spoken of his ‘indescribable’ relief at being acquitted and joy at returning to Britain, and texted one friend saying it was ‘so wonderful to be home’.
• He has also spoken at his delight at being able to spend time with his two daughters, 21 and 18, and their six dogs.
• To mark his freedom, Mr Lynch had invited guests from legal firm Clifford Chance as well as his own company Invoke Capital to celebrate on the yacht trip.

His daughter Hannah

• Mr Lynch’s wife wife tragically revealed on Monday that not just her husband was missing after the yacht sank, but also their 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.
• Hannah completed her A-levels this summer and had secured a place to study English Literature at Oxford University, according to the Times.

Jonathan Bloomer

• Mr Bloomer is a close friend of Lynch and was confirmed missing by Italian Authorities.
• According to his Linkedin profile, Mr Bloomer is the chairman of insurance provider Hiscox and was formerly the chief executive of Prudential before being ousted in a boardroom coup in 2005.
• Mr Bloomer’s wife Judy is also missing

Chris Morvillo

• Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo represented Mr Lynch in his recent legal battle in the US and was on board the Bayesian with his wife Neda.
• Attorney Gary Lincenberg said Morvillo and his wife ‘are presumed to be passed away’ after the yacht went down near Sicily.
• Mr Lincenberg told Business Insider that ‘Chris and his wife are gone’.

Italian authorities launched a huge search and rescue effort yesterday after a £30million superyacht moored off the coast of Italy sank with 22 people on board including 12 British and American passengers.

Fifteen people including a mother and her one-year-old daughter, later named as Charlotte Golunski and her daughter Sophie, were rescued by a nearby ship but six remain missing.

One man a Canadian chef was found dead in the water during searches at the shipwreck.

Yesterday afternoon it emerged Mike Lynch, a British tech tycoon, was among the missing along with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Mr Lynch’s wife Angela survived the sinking.

Here are just some of the developments we reported on yesterday:

• Mr Lynch invited guests on his Bayesian yacht as a ‘victory’ celebration trip after he was acquitted of fraud charges in the US earlier this summer
• Some of his closest friends who joined him on the sailing remain missing including the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy
• The other two yet to be found are Mr Lynch’s attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda.
• The enormous 246ft-high aluminium mast on Mr Lynch’s superyacht could have been what caused the vessel to capsize and sink rapidly, according to an expert
• In an extraordinary twist, the sinking comes days after Stephen Chamberlain, an ex-colleague of Mr Lynch – who he had successfully fought the fraud case with – died after being hit by a car

We will continue to bring you updates as and when we can.

These pictures show rescue operations have resumed off the coast of Sicily this morning as six passengers on board the doomed Bayesian yacht remain missing.

Divers, helicopters and marine units were involved in searches yesterday for the passengers which include British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer.

by Matthew Lodge

The search for six people missing after a luxury yacht sunk in a storm off the coast of Sicily has resumed this morning with divers fearing bodies are trapped inside the vessel.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and a boss from Morgan Stanley, are among those who still have not been found after the £30million superyacht Bayesian went down early on Monday morning.

The vessel had been moored just 300 metres from the coast when it was hit by a suspected freak waterspout amid heavy thunderstorms near the city of Palermo at around 5am.

The boat, which had been carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers – went down quickly, with survivors found floating in a life raft describing how they swam for their lives.

Search teams have already found the body of one man, thought to be an onboard chef, and there are fears that more bodies will be found in the hull of the ship by specialist divers today.

Hello and welcome to ‘s live coverage as the search for six missing superyacht passengers resumes off the coast of Sicily this morning.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer are among those rescuers will try to locate.

The passengers were on board the £30million superyacht Bayesian when it capsized early Monday morning after it was hit by a suspected freak waterspout amid heavy thunderstorms near the city of Palermo.

We will bring you updates from throughout the day.