The superyacht of the British technology magnate Mike Lynch, who capsized the coast of Sicily last August at the price of seven lives, was overthrown by an “extreme wind” and could not recover, British investigators announced on Thursday.
The billionaire entrepreneur Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among the dead when the Bayesian of 56 meters (184 feet) sank on August 19 of last year. Boat trip was a celebration of the acquittal of Lynch in a fraud case in the United States in June.
In an interim report on the disaster, the branch of the Great Britain’s marine accident investigation said that the boat was “vulnerable” to the winds that were even lighter than those who overthrew it. The report was based on “a limited quantity of verified evidence” because a criminal investigation by Italian authorities limited its access to the wreckage and other evidence, he said.
The agency, which is investigating the disaster because the Bayesian was recorded in the United Kingdom, said that “vulnerabilities” were “unknown to the owner or the crew” because they were not included in the stability information book.
The report indicated that the Bayesian had sailed to the site where he sank the day before in order to “worry” from the planned thunderstorms. He said the disaster occurred at 4:06 a.m. local time when the wind speeds exceeded 70 knots (81 miles per hour), “violently” hitting the ship at a 90 -degree angle in less than 15 seconds.
He said that at the time of the incident, the ship was “driving” with its lowered sails, while the central table, which is used to help it stabilize, was in a “raised” position.
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“You have the wind that pushes the ship, then you have the stability of the ship trying to push the ship again to the right,” said Simon Graves, a Maib researcher. “And what our studies have found is that they show that the Bayesian may have been vulnerable to strong winds and that these winds were probably obvious at the time of the accident.”
Investigation procedures in the United Kingdom are examining the death of Lynch and his daughter, as well as the president of Morgan Stanley International Bank Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71, who were all British nationals.
The others who died in the sinking were the American lawyer Chris Mornvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and the National Recaldo Canadian-Antiguan Thomas, who worked as a chief on the ship.
Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were saved.
A project aimed at moving the Bayesian in a vertical position and raising it on the surface has been interrupted since May 9, when a diver died during the submarine work. Recovery work is expected to resume from Thursday.
More details such as “escape routes” will be included in the final report, according to Graves.
“Once we have access to the ship, we will be able to tell a more complete image of activities on board and the sequence of events,” he said.
No date has been set when the final report is published.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
