A FREAK STORM CAPSIZED THEIR SUPERYACHT. NOW SIX PEOPLE ARE MISSING.
A lavish holiday on the Mediterranean took a tragic turn when the luxury superyacht Bayesian, carrying British-Irish tech billionaire Mike Lynch, his family, and close friends, capsized off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning.
The yacht, a 56-metre symbol of Lynch's immense success, sank suddenly in a violent storm, leaving six people, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, missing and feared dead.
Despite ongoing rescue efforts, hope is fading for those still unaccounted for as the world watches anxiously for any sign of survivors. Here’s everything we know so far.
Mike Lynch. Image: Getty
Who was on the yacht and why they were there?
The Bayesian, a 56-metre superyacht owned by Mike Lynch, was meant to be a floating paradise.
The billionaire, often dubbed "Britain’s Bill Gates," had invited family and close friends to join him on a Mediterranean holiday to celebrate a major legal victory.
After spending the last decade fighting allegations of fraud, Lynch had been cleared of all charges just two months ago. This trip was supposed to mark a new chapter in his life.
Among the guests on board were Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah Lynch, who had just completed her A-levels and was set to start her studies at Oxford University.
His wife, who has since been rescued, Angela Bacares, was also present, along with Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy. Lynch’s lawyer, Chris Morvillo, who had been a key figure in his legal battles, was on the yacht with his wife, Neda.
Jonathan Bloomer. Image: Getty
The Bayesian, named after the Bayesian Theory—an area of mathematics that was central to Lynch’s PhD and his career—was anchored near Porticello, Sicily. It was a symbol of Lynch’s achievements, both intellectual and financial.
A freak storm turns a dream holiday into a tragedy.
The Mediterranean is known for its beautiful, calm waters, but on Monday morning, the sea turned deadly.
A powerful storm, which experts described as highly unusual for this time of year, struck the Bayesian around 5 a.m. A waterspout, with reported winds reaching an astonishing 240km/h, hit the yacht with full force.
What happened next was nothing short of catastrophic. Eyewitnesses and those involved in the rescue describe a scene of chaos. The yacht’s 75-metre mast snapped like a twig, leaving the vessel unbalanced and vulnerable to the raging storm.
Within minutes, the Bayesian was swallowed by the sea.
"The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude," a Sicilian coastguard told Reuters. It was a freak event, one that no one on board could have predicted.
Captain Karsten Borner saw the tragedy unfold. Image: BBC
Amid the chaos, a nearby boat, the Sir Robert Baden Powell, noticed the Bayesian during the storm. After the storm calmed, Captain Karsten Borner saw a red flare and realised the ship had disappeared beneath the waves.
"We saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position, and we found this life raft drifting," he told Reuters.
He and a crew member boarded their tender and found a lifeboat with 15 people, some injured, who they then took aboard and alerted the coast guard.
A harrowing account from the survivors.
Angela Bacares, Lynch’s wife, was one of the 15 survivors who escaped on a lifeboat.
On Tuesday, she recounted to La Repubblica the terrifying experience aboard the Bayesian.
She described how she and Lynch were awoken around 4 a.m. on Monday when the superyacht suddenly “tilted” during the violent storm.
Angela Bacares and Mike Lynch. Image: Facebook
Initially, they were not overly concerned, but Bacares decided to get out of bed to investigate. Moments later, she heard glass shattering, which sparked panic among those on board.
"I wasn’t too worried at first, but then the glass suddenly shattered, and everything changed," Bacares explained. In the ensuing chaos, she sustained injuries to her feet from walking on broken glass and is now reported to be in a wheelchair following the tragedy.
Another survivor, Charlotte Golunski, shared her ordeal of being thrown into the dark sea with her husband James and their one-year-old daughter, Sofia.
"For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea, then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves,” Golunski told La Repubblica. She described how she held her daughter afloat with all her strength, her arms stretched upwards to keep the baby from drowning.
“It was all dark. In the water, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help, but all I could hear around me were the screams of others.”
The Golunski family was later rescued and discharged from the Di Cristina hospital in Palermo on Tuesday.
Charlotte Golunski did what she could to save her baby. Image: Facebook
Sicily's civil protection agency head, Salvo Cocina, commented on the unusual storm conditions, stating, "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time," according to ABC News.
Further disturbing details emerged from surveillance footage of the incident.
"In just sixty seconds you can see the ship disappear," the owner of a nearby villa told Italian news agency ANSA, after reviewing the footage from his cameras.
“Of about twenty cameras installed in the house, only one was not disturbed by the wind and rain. You can clearly see what is happening."
The video showed the lights of the yacht disappearing rapidly as it was engulfed.
They added, “There was nothing that could be done for the boat. It disappeared in a very short time.”
For six others, including Lynch and his daughter, the storm would prove inescapable.
The search for survivors becomes more desperate.
Rescue teams, including specialised divers, have been working tirelessly to locate the six missing individuals, but the situation is increasingly grim.
Recaldo Thomas. Image: Getty
The body of the ship’s chef, Ricardo Thomas, has already been recovered, confirming the worst fears. Thomas, an Antiguan citizen, was one of the ten crew members on board.
The crew and passengers hailed from a variety of countries, including Britain, the United States, Antigua, France, Germany, Ireland, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Spain. Italian media reports have painted a grim picture, with divers claiming to have seen “corpses through the portholes” as they explore the sunken wreckage.
A rescue operation is underway. Image: Getty.
The wreck lies 49 metres below the surface, and debris from the capsized yacht is blocking access points, making the rescue operation incredibly difficult. The challenges faced by the divers are severe.
"Inside the sailing ship, the spaces are very small and if you encounter an obstacle it is very complicated to advance, and it is also very difficult to find alternative routes," Mr Cari, a spokesperson for the fire service, told ANSA.
He added that the divers had only been able to reach the bridge deck, which was "full of electrical cables," making the operation even more dangerous.
Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coastguard shared the grim likelihood that the missing individuals were still trapped inside the yacht.
"We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea. Our search and rescue activity by sea and air has gone on for around 36 hours," Zagarola told PA news agency.
He added, "Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly. We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat."
"It’s a race against time, but every hour that passes makes the chances of survival slimmer," one rescue worker admitted.
A long and complicated rescue effort continues.
Rescue personnel have been tirelessly working around the clock to locate the missing passengers.
According to Giuseppe Petrone, the national director of Italy’s firefighting department divers, a breach has been located in the yacht’s hull, and efforts are underway to open a passage to reach the cabins where the missing individuals are believed to be trapped.
However, the conditions inside the wreck are extremely challenging.
Maritime experts have pointed out that the depth of the wreck complicates the rescue even further, with divers needing specialised equipment to operate at such depths.
Sicilian prosecutors have also opened an investigation into the event, while the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch is deploying a team of inspectors to Italy to conduct a preliminary assessment.
The survivors have been moved to a security-monitored hotel in Bagheria, where they are being questioned as part of the investigation to understand the precise sequence of events that led to the tragic sinking of the Bayesian.
The legacy of Mike Lynch: A life of achievement and controversy.
Mike Lynch is no ordinary businessman. His name is synonymous with innovation in the tech world, thanks to his founding of Autonomy, a software company that revolutionised data search and management.
But his career has been anything but smooth. After selling Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011, Lynch was accused of inflating the value of his company.
Image: Getty
A decade of legal battles ensued, but he was ultimately acquitted of all criminal charges earlier this year.
Lynch’s contributions to technology are undeniable, and his work with Bayesian inference has left a lasting impact on the field of data science.
As the search for the missing continues, the world watches anxiously, hoping for a miracle amid the unfolding tragedy.
Feature image: Getty
2024-08-20T23:06:59Z dg43tfdfdgfd