London: PonteSud – News Desk
A superyacht has been raised from the seabed nearly a year after it sank off the coast of Sicily, killing seven of the 22 people on board.
Italian officials said the luxury yacht – known as the Bayesian – would be held up by a crane for a series of inspections requested by the public prosecutor’s office. It will later be fully removed from the water.
The Bayesian was owned by British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who died in the incident alongside his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and five others.
Last month, an ongoing investigation found that Mr Lynch and the crew were unaware of some of the boat’s vulnerabilities – including that wind speeds of over 73mph could topple it.
Footage from the salvage operation shows the hull of the 56m (183ft) vessel – which looks badly damaged and covered in mud – being lifted up by cranes.
In some images, the ship’s name can be seen on the stern of the yacht as it is finally lifted above the water.
The vessel is expected to be taken to the nearby port of Termini Imerese on Monday, where Italian prosecutors investigating the sinking are based.
Previous salvage efforts to raise the boat were delayed after a diver died while working on the operation last month.
Also in May, an investigation led by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found that gusts of over 73mph hitting the side of the Bayesian would “likely result” in its capsize. The MAIB used modelling commissioned after the disaster to aid in its preliminary report.
It said winds of over 80mph “violently” hit the vessel during the disaster, causing it to flood within seconds.
The MAIB said its report was based on a “limited amount of verified evidence” as they did not have access to the wreck at the time.
Investigators in the UK and Italy – where criminal investigations are also under way – have said raising the vessel is crucial to fully understanding what happened.
The Bayesian had been anchored off the port of a small fishing village, Porticello, when it sank in the early hours of 19 August last year.
Witnesses at the time recalled watching it disappear within “a few minutes” during freak weather.
Among the victims were Mr Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71, who were all British nationals.
US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel, also died in the sinking. Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued.
