Around 5:00 am this morning, a superyacht anchored off the Sicilian coast encountered severe weather and sank. One of the people aboard has been confirmed dead and searches continue for another six.
“Firefighters have been busy since 5 this morning in rescue operations on a sailing vessel that sank near the coast, in the Porticello area, in the municipality of Bagheria. Divers, a motorboat and a helicopter from the Catania flight department are on site to search on the surface for 7 people reported as missing”, the Italian National Fire Brigade said in a statement.
The vessel, named Bayesian and flying under a British flag, was known for having one of the tallest aluminium masts in the world, at 75 metres high. It was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew members, its maximum capacity, when the storm hit it this morning.
Out of the 22 people onboard, 15 have already been rescued, including the captain and a mother and her one-year-old daughter. Another person has been found dead, while the other 6 are still missing. From the 15 rescued people, 8 gave been taken to the hospital, including the mother and daughter, and they are in stable condition.
“I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning”, the rescued mother told Italian news outlet la Repubblica. “It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
BBC News has confirmed that British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is among those still lost at sea. With no confirmation of who is still missing besides Lynch, the 12 passengers have been reported to be four Brits, two Anglo-French, two Americans, one Canadian, one Irish, one New Zealander and one Sri-Lankan.
Bad weather had been predicted in southern Italy throughout the weekend and fishermen have reported seeing a so-called waterspout, a tornado-like phenomenon that forms over bodies of water. It is believed the waterspout hit the Bayesian, leading to its capsizing.
The wreck of the yacht was located at a depth of about 50 meters, and scuba divers are arriving on site from Rome, Cagliari, Sassari and Naples to search inside the sunken vessel, the fire brigade further confirmed.
