Haunting footage of sunken Bayesian superyacht reveals wreckage

Divers have filmed the first footage of the $60m Bayesian wreckage where seven people died, despite tightened security protecting watertight safes believed to contain intelligence data.

Haunting footage of the Bayesian super yacht has revealed the underwater grave of seven people killed when a horror storm sank the $60 million vessel off the coast of Italy.

Despite tightened security to protect highly sensitive intelligence data in watertight safes, leaked footage showed divers exploring the wreckage 49 metres beneath the surface.

The eerie video shows divers investigating what appears to be a control panel, opening a hatch, and shuffling around debris as they peer through the haze with torches attached to their wrists.

Divers filmed the underwater wreckage in footage leaked to an Italian investigative TV program. Picture: Supplied

The footage appeared to show the vessel’s control panel. Picture: Supplied

The section captured in the haunting images were reportedly where four of passengers survived in an air pocket before running out of oxygen. Picture: Supplied

The area of the yacht seen in the footage was where the bodies of seven people were found, according to Italian investigative TV program Quarta Repubblica, which first aired the video and posted clips across social media.

Autopsies found that four of the seven victims survived the sinking but died in an air pocket inside the wreck.

#Bayesian, le immagini esclusive all’interno del relitto.
Per vedere il servizio completo di @LBulian e @claudrinald visita @MedInfinityIT.#quartarepubblicapic.twitter.com/YcN2Xeg9hy

— Quarta Repubblica (@QRepubblica) October 15, 2024

VIDEO | Il naufragio del veliero Bayesian, le immagini dei sommozzatori durante le ispezioni del relitto #ANSApic.twitter.com/7UN6GPc7G1

— Agenzia ANSA (@Agenzia_Ansa) October 15, 2024

Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew survived by climbing onto an inflatable life raft when a suspected “downburst” of strong wind caused the yacht to drift about 400m from its anchorage near the fishing port of Porticello, Sicily, on August 19, local time.

New York Lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda, Morgan Stanley’s Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy died of asphyxiation due to “dry drowning” from toxic air pockets.

The boat’s owner, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, and his 18-year-old daughter were killed, along with yacht chef Recaldo Thomas.

Mr Lynch was associated with British, American and other intelligence services through his various companies, including the cyber security company he founded, Darktrace.

UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah Lynch. Picture: Supplied

The yacht was placed under guard above water and surveillance underwater over concerns of sensitive intelligence data on two super-encrypted hard drives locked in safes kept on board.

Italian prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into the tragedy, and expect to raise the wreckage in the coming weeks.

The recovery will reportedly be paid for by Revtom, a firm controlled by Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.

Former captain of the Bayesian Stephen Edwards. Picture: LinkedIn

The Bayesian’s New Zealand-born captain and two crew members are under investigation, with a probe considering possible culpable shipwreck and manslaughter.

Prosecutors were also probing ship engineer Tim Parker-Eaton, from Clophill, Beds, and sailor Matthew Griffith, 22 under the same charges.

“We expect to see the plan for the raising of the Bayesian submitted to us for our approval in a few weeks,” said a Coastguard spokesman. “Everyone wants to move quickly.”

Originally published as Haunting footage of sunken Bayesian superyacht reveals wreckage