Mike Lynch's sunken yacht glimpsed above surface ahead of being fully raised

North Wales Chronicle

3 hours ago

Seven people died when the Bayesian sank off the coast of the Italian island on August 19, including billionaire Mr Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18.
The 56-metre (184ft) yacht is set to be lifted to the surface near the fishing town of Porticello over the weekend before being taken to nearby Termini Imerese — where Italian prosecutors investigating the sinking are based.
On Friday, parts of the accommodation areas above deck and the hull were seen above the surface as teams worked to install additional lifting straps before the yacht was lowered back under the waterline ahead of being fully raised at the weekend.
Investigators in the UK and Italy say raising the vessel is crucial to fully understanding what happened.
Last week, salvage teams expected the boat to be raised later in June, but thanks to 'accelerated progress', the timeline was brought forward.
The yacht's 72-metre (236ft) mast was cut off on Tuesday using a remote-controlled tool and rested on the seabed to be picked up later.
Over the last few days, salvage teams worked to ease the hull into an upright position and give access to the yacht's right side, which had previously been lying flat on the seabed 50 metres below the surface.
The yacht is currently supported by strong steel straps attached to Hebo Lift 10 — one of Europe's most powerful sea cranes.
If all goes to plan, sea water will be pumped out of the hull as the boat is raised to the surface before being carried to Termini Imerese on Monday, where it will be lifted onto a specially made steel cradle on the quayside.
Marcus Cave of British firm TMC Marine, which is overseeing the salvage efforts, said: 'The salvage team has made very substantive progress in the last 10 days.
'They are now preparing for the final, complex and delicate lifting operation, to bring Bayesian to the surface and ultimately into port.'
The vessel was originally expected to be raised last month but salvage efforts were delayed after a diver died during underwater work on May 9, prompting greater use of remote-controlled equipment.
About 70 specialist personnel had been mobilised to the fishing village of Porticello from across Europe to work on the recovery operation, which began last month.
Inquest proceedings in the UK are looking at the deaths of Mr Lynch and his daughter, as well as Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71, who were all British nationals.
Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigators said in an interim report that the Bayesian was knocked over by 'extreme wind'.
The yacht had a vulnerability to winds but the owner and crew would not have known, the report said.
US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel, also died in the sinking.
Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued.
Mr Lynch and his daughter were said to have lived in the vicinity of London and the Bloomers lived in Sevenoaks in Kent.
The tycoon founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of carrying out a massive fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal in the case in the US.