PORTICELLO, Italy. Scuba divers have recovered the bodies of two individuals from the wreck of a luxury yacht owned by British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch. The vessel sank off the coast of Sicily two days ago during a severe pre-dawn storm.
The yacht, the 56-meter-long (184-ft) Bayesian, was anchored near the port of Porticello, close to Palermo, when it capsized early Monday morning. The yacht was carrying 22 people, including Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International.
According to a source close to the rescue operation, the bodies recovered are among the six passengers who had been reported missing. The names and genders of the victims have not yet been released. One of the bodies was described as belonging to a “heavily built man.”
The yacht’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was the first fatality confirmed, with his body found near the wreck hours after the incident.
The Italian fire department described the operation as “long and complex” due to the wreck’s position, lying sideways at a depth of approximately 50 meters. The inside spaces were obstructed by debris and furniture, limiting divers’ underwater time to just 8-10 minutes.
A remotely operated vehicle was deployed by the coast guard to scan the seabed and collect underwater footage that may aid in the ongoing investigation. Survivors, including the yacht’s captain and passengers from a nearby vessel who witnessed the incident, are being questioned. Currently, no one is under investigation, judicial sources confirmed.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
