Missing superyacht passengers revealed

The six people who are missing, feared dead, after the Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Italy have been revealed.

The six missing passengers on board the capsized Bayesian superyacht include a tech billionaire’s 18-year-old daughter and two married couples.

Of the 22 people who were on board, 15 were rescued with one tragically pulled dead from the water, believed to be the vessel’s chef.

The luxury British-flagged boat was hit by a tornado off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, on Monday.

Divers plunge into the ocean in a bid to find the passengers. (Photo by Handout / Vigili del Fuoco / AFP)

It is feared the missing passengers were trapped in their cabins, with divers attempting to enter the sunken boat on Tuesday but running into difficulty because their access was blocked by furniture.

Here we take a look at who is still unaccounted for.

Mike Lynch

The boat’s owner is billionaire tech tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, who had organised a special voyage on board the Bayesian to celebrate a decade-long legal battle in the US which he sensationally won earlier this year.

Mike Lynch was holding a party on board his yacht to celebrate winning a decade-long trial in the US. (Photo by BEN GURR / POOL / AFP)

The billionaire entrepreneur sold his tech firm Autonomy to US computing giant Hewlett-Packard for $US11 billion ($16b) in 2011, but a lengthy legal dispute followed as he was accused of inflating the value of the company.

A San Francisco jury acquitted Mr Lynch, who has been dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates”, in June.

He had been facing two decades in jail.

Mr Lynch was joined on board by his wife Angela Bacares and his daughter Hannah.

Hannah Lynch

Mike Lynch’s daughter Hannah is a promising student who had just finished her A-levels and was due to read English at Oxford.

Hannah is the younger of Mr Lynch’s two daughters. The family live at the sprawling Loudham Hall estate in Suffolk.

Jonathan Bloomer

Mike Lynch’s long-term friend Jonathan Bloomer is also among the missing.

Jonathan Bloomer is a long-term friend of Mr Lynch. (Photo by John Li/Getty Images)

He is the chairman of the Morgan Stanley International bank and insurance company Hiscox.

Mr Bloomer, 70, appeared at Mr Lynch’s trial as a defence witness, the Financial Times reports.

Hiscox has issued a statement saying it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the incident.

Mr Bloomer was on board with his wife Judy Bloomer, who is also missing.

Judy Bloomer

Ms Bloomer is known for her charity work and has been a trustee and supporter of gynaecological cancer research charity Eve Appeal for more than 20 years.

She is also listed as a former director of property developer Change Real Estate, according to the BBC.

Chris Morvillo

Clifford Chase lawyer Chris Morvillo represented Mr Lynch at his US trial.

American jewellery designer Neda Morvillo, wife of Mr Morvillo, is also unaccounted for.

Chris Morvillo is a lawyer who represented Mr Lynch in his US trial.

During his time at the company he served as assistant attorney for the southern district of New York and he also worked on the criminal investigation surrounding the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

In an eerie final post on LinkedIn before the tragedy, Mr Morvillo, 59, thanked his legal team for their work on the fraud case before dedicating a paragraph to his family.

At the end of the post, he wrote: “And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.”

“None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. And they all lived happily ever after….”

Neda Morvillo

Mr Morvillo’s wife, the American jewellery designer, Neda Morvillo, is also missing.

In a statement, Mr Morvillo’s employers said: “Our thoughts are with our partner, Christopher Morvillo, and his wife, Neda, who are among the missing.”

Boat sank in “two minutes” flat

The captain of a nearby ship that helped rescue passengers in the aftermath of the incident spoke to Reuters about the moment he noticed the superyacht had vanished

“I don’t absolutely know what they did. I only know that they went flat with a mast on the water and that they sank in two minutes,” he told the agency.

Rescuers return to Porticello in a fresh search for the missing passengers. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

He said the abnormally high sea temperature - 30C - was “way too hot for the Mediterranean, and this causes, for sure, heavy storms”.

Witnesses said a tornado snapped the 246ft boat mast - the world’s second tallest - clean in half.

Others told Italian outlet Ansa that the anchor was down when the storm hit on Monday morning, causing the vessel to lose its balance.

Who was rescued?

Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares has been rescued and was using a wheelchair, according to La Repubblica, after suffering cuts to her feet.

Young mother Charlotte Golunski was rescued along with her one-year-old daughter who she managed to hold above the waves until climbing into a lifeboat.

“It was terrible. The boat was hit by really strong wind and shortly after it went down,” Ms Golunski told ANSA news agency.

Ms Golunski, board director at Luminance, a company founded by Lynch, lost hold of her baby daughter in the waves “for two seconds”, before managing to grab her “while the sea raged”.

“Lots of people were screaming” in the dark, said Ms Golunski who was travelling with her partner.

Clifford Chance lawyer Ayla Ronald, was also rescued along with her partner.

Eight of the 15 people who were rescued from the water were taken to hospital.