Bayesian yacht ‘capsized and vanished in just 60 seconds’

CCTV footage has revealed the ferocity of the tornado that hit the superyacht off the coast of Sicily and toppled its mast, believed to be the world’s tallest, causing the vessel to heel over and quickly sink | VIDEO

The Bayesian superyacht capsized and vanished in as little as 60 seconds, underscoring the ferocity of the tornado that has killed one person and is feared to have claimed the lives of six others.

Mike Lynch, 59, one of Britain’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, and his daughter, Hannah, 18, are among the passengers still missing.

Most of the yacht’s crew and six surviving passengers have been released from hospital; they were said to be asking constantly about the missing passengers.

A rescue boat of the Italian Coast Guards operates in Porticello near Palermo. Picture: AFP

The Italian coastguard said it would “never say never”, but conceded that it was unlikely that others would be found alive more than 48 hours into the rescue operation in the Tyrrhenian Sea off Sicily. In other developments:

– Chris Morvillo, 59, a lawyer on the team that secured Lynch’s acquittal in June following a US fraud trial, was revealed to be missing along with his wife.

– Prosecutors in Sicily opened an investigation into the sudden sinking of the superyacht, which will include whether portholes, windows or hatches were left open by the crew.

– Cambridgeshire police reissued an appeal for witnesses to Saturday’s road traffic accident that killed Lynch’s co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain, but said it appeared to be a tragic accident and there was “nothing untoward”.

Lynch had organised a cruise on the Bayesian to celebrate his acquittal. Also missing is Jonathan Bloomer, 70, a businessman who was a witness for Lynch at his trial, as well as his wife, Judy.

The Bayesian was moored off Porticello, near Palermo, when the tornado, known as a waterspout, hit in the early hours of Monday morning.

It toppled the yacht’s mast, believed to be the world’s tallest, causing the vessel to heel over and quickly sink. Six of the 12 passengers escaped and nine of the ten crew survived. The body of Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan chef, was recovered on Monday.

Images of The Bayesian Yacht which sunk of the coast of Porticello. Picture: www.yachtcharterfleet.com

CCTV cameras from a villa on the shoreline filmed the pounds 14 million vessel being engulfed by the storm, its lights dimming and vanishing. The property’s owner told local media: “In just 60 seconds you can see the ship disappear.”

James Emsley, a British survivor of the tragedy, told doctors that the vessel went down more slowly but took “no more than five minutes”.

Experts said that it was possible, but increasingly unlikely, that survivors could be found trapped inside air pockets that might form inside the yacht. Hannah Lynch, whose mother, Angela Bacares, survived, had been offered a place at Oxford to read English.

The deck of the Bayesian. Picture: www.yachtcharterfleet.com

After Lynch’s acquittal, Morvillo, a partner at the global law firm Clifford Chance, had paid tribute to several colleagues and his wife Neda, 57, who is also missing, writing: “And they all lived happily ever after.”

Doctors in Palermo said Sophia Emsley, the one-year-old saved when her mother, Charlotte Golunski, 36, held her aloft in the waves, was in “perfect shape”. Other surviving crew members identified by the Italian coastguard include Eaton Parker, from the UK, Tus Koopmans, from the Netherlands, Leah Randall, 20, from South Africa, Katya Chicken, 23, from Germany, and Leo Eppel.

Addtional reporting: Shayma Bakht and Katie Prescott

The Times