Bayesian yacht that sank off Sicily killing 7 to be raised in late June under updated recovery plan
MILAN (AP) — A salvage company expects to lift the wreck of the luxury Bayesian yacht in late June from the seafloor off Sicily where it sank last summer, killing seven people, according to a recovery plan agreed with Italian maritime and investigating authorities, the TMC salvage company said Wednesday.
Salvage teams in the past week have recovered 17 pieces of suspected Bayesian debris from the sea floor identified using a remote-controlled submersible. They have been transferred to shore in Termini Imerese as part of the investigation.
The British-flagged superyacht sank in August, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.
Several days before the 56-meter (183-foot) long 473-ton yacht is lifted to the surface, crews will use precision tools to remove the 72-meter mast. After that, the Bayesian will be set upright and then gradually lifted to the surface with eight main steel lifting strops that will be installed under the hull. The whole process is expected to take several days.
Marine salvage experts began the operation in early May to recover the superyacht, which is on the seafloor at a depth of about 49 meters (160 feet.) The operation was temporarily halted after a diver's death a few days later, and the new recovery plan was approved on Tuesday.
'The salvage teams will now hopefully be able to make more systematic progress in preparations for the ultimate safe recovery of Bayesian, whilst ensuring the safety of those working on this very complex lifting and recovery operation,'' said Marcus Cave, a TMC Marine director.
British investigators in an interim report issued last month said that the yacht was knocked over by 'extreme wind' and couldn't recover. The report stated that the Bayesian had chosen the site where it sank as shelter from forecast thunderstorms. Wind speeds exceeded 70 knots (81 mph.) at the time of the sinking at 4:06 a.m. on Aug. 19 and 'violently' knocked the vessel over to a 90-degree angle in under 15 seconds.
Italian authorities are conducting a full criminal investigation.
Billionaire entrepreneur Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among the dead when the Bayesian sank. The boat trip was a celebration of Lynch's acquittal in a fraud case in the U.S. in June. Fifteen people survived the accident.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
20 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Shooting on Las Vegas Strip near Bellagio that killed 2 was livestreamed, police say
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The two people killed in a shooting over the weekend on the Las Vegas Strip captured it on video while livestreaming to their shared YouTube channel, according to a police report. The married victims were identified by the Clark County coroner's office as Tanisha Finley, 43, and Rodney Finley, 44. Both died of multiple gunshot wounds. Las Vegas police said the shooting on Sunday night near the landmark Bellagio fountains was an isolated incident between the victims and the suspect, who had been feuding on social media since at least 2023. The suspect, identified by police as Manuel D. Ruiz, surrendered to authorities Monday morning at a police station outside of Las Vegas. Ruiz, 41, faces two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and is being held without bail, jail records show. The Associated Press sent an emailed message Thursday seeking comment from his public defender. Ruiz told police after his arrest that he was acting in self-defense, according to his arrest report. The suspect is seen in the video livestream pulling a gun from his waistband, raising it and initially firing between five and six shots, according to a description of the video detailed in the report. One or two more gunshots can be heard in the video after Tanisha Finley is seen grabbing the cellphone that is being used for the livestream. 'The phone fell to the ground and remained still for a moment until a police officer appeared in the camera frame and turned off the livestream,' the report said. The couple's son was among the 911 callers to report the shooting, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. 'I heard gunshots around him,' he says. 'I think he might have got shot, so I was just trying to check and make sure, just try to see if he's OK or where he's at.' In his interview with police after he surrendered, the suspect said he also has a YouTube channel and had been livestreaming from the Strip on the night of the shooting. Ruiz told police began shooting because it looked like one of the victims was reaching for a weapon, according to the report. Police said no firearms were found on the victims. The shooting happened on one of the busiest stretches of the Strip. The dancing Bellagio fountains, which soar up to 460 feet (140 meters) into the air, play every 15 minutes on the weekends between 8 p.m. and midnight.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Minnesota women's coach Dawn Plitzuweit gets 2-year contract extension with raise
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota women's basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit has received a two-year contract extension that was approved Thursday by the university's board of regents. Plitzuweit is 47-29 over two seasons at Minnesota, including 13-23 in Big Ten play, with leading scorer Mara Braun missing much of them with foot injuries. The Gophers capped Plitzuweit's second year by winning the WBIT championship. They have not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2018. Advertisement The new deal, which covers the next six seasons through 2031, gives Plitzuweit a raise of roughly 7% to bring her base salary to $900,000 for 2025-26, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune, with annual increases of $30,000. That's in the middle of the pack in the 18-team Big Ten, which sent 12 of them to the NCAA Tournament this year. Plitzuweit was hired away from West Virginia, where she spent one season, to replace Lindsay Whalen. Plitzuweit is the 13th head coach in the program's history. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women's college basketball: and The Associated Press
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
100,000 electric vehicle charging points to be installed with £381m funding
Some 100,000 street-side electric vehicle (EVs) charging points will be installed across England as a result of £381 million funding, ministers have said. The cash aims to help the uptake of electric cars among motorists who do not have their own driveways and charging points. The new charging points come on top of 80,000 already installed publicly across the UK, and tens of thousand more installed privately. Transport minister Lilian Greenwood said: 'This Government is powering up the EV revolution by rolling out a charge point every 29 minutes, and our support to roll out over 100,000 local charge points in England shows we're committed to making even more progress. 'We're delivering our Plan for Change by investing over £4 billion to support drivers to make the switch, while backing British car makers through international trade deals – creating jobs, boosting investment and securing our future.' The money comes from the Government's Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund, which helps councils to instal new EV charging points. Meanwhile, in a sign of growing market confidence in EVs, London-based firm Believ has secured £300 million to roll out charging points across the UK.
