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The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Watery grave of Bayesian superyacht revealed in eerie last photos as what sank vessel sparks multi-million war of words
DEEP below the deceptively crystal clear waters of Sicily's Tyrrhenian Sea, the wreck of super-yacht Bayesian is yet to give up all its secrets. These exclusive photographs are the last to be taken before dives to the London-registered vessel — which sank in a storm last year — were banned after the death of a salvage team diver. 8 8 8 That tragic loss in an explosion three weeks ago brought the number of victims to eight, with six passengers and one crew member losing their lives when the £30million yacht sank on August 19 last year. They included multi-millionaire British tech businessman Mike Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Veteran photographer Massimo Sestini, who dived 163 feet down to take these eerie images of the barnacle-covered wreck, knows all too well how treacherous any underwater journey can be. In January, he was left in a coma after a dive in an ice-cold Italian lake went terribly wrong. Fortunate to survive that very close call, the 62-year-old daredevil photographer still went down to the Bayesian in April. Massimo, who has also photographed the wreck of Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which struck a rock and partially sank in 2012, told The Sun: 'It is dangerous down there. 'It is very dark, there is a current that brings up the sand so that visibility is down to one metre at times. 'But I was not scared.' The mystery of what brought the 'unsinkable' Bayesian to its watery grave is at the centre of a multi-million-pound war of words. This month a preliminary report by Britain's Marine Accident Investigation Branch — involved because the Bayesian was a UK- registered vessel — said the yacht, with its 236ft aluminium mast, was 'vulnerable to high winds'. Investigators think the boat was knocked over by 100mph winds in a 'mesocyclonic storm front' just before 4am while anchored half a mile off the Sicilian fishing port of Porticello. Chilling photo of Bayesian minutes before superyacht sank reveals key clue to solving mystery of disaster that killed 7 But this theory runs counter to the one put forward by the firm which built the 184ft-long yacht. Giovanni Costantino, boss of boat-building firm TISG, or The Italian Sea Group, insisted the ship's design was safe. Legal action He believes that one of the hatches was most likely left open, letting in the water which sank the Bayesian. He said: 'It tilted 90 degrees for only one reason — because the water kept coming in.' It is very dark, there is a current that brings up the sand so that visibility is down to one metre at times. But I was not scared. Massimo Sestini There were rumours that divers to the wreck had seen windows and hatches open, but photographer Massimo said that from what he saw 'it seems like the hatch wasn't open'. TISG, which owns the Perini Navi shipyard in Viareggio, Tuscany, where the Bayesian was built in 2008, has taken legal action against the New York Times for reporting in October that the single tall mast design made the vessel ' vulnerable to capsizing '. 8 8 8 The Italian authorities are looking into a suspicion that the crew did not react quickly enough to the storm. Two weeks ago the yacht's skipper, New Zealander James Cutfield, used his right to silence when magistrates tried to question him. British engineer Tim Parker-Eaton and deckhand Matthew Griffiths have also been placed under investigation. Eyewitnesses claimed the Bayesian went under in 'seconds', but it has also been reported that the yacht took 16 minutes to sink. Relatives of the victims, who include chef Recaldo Thomas, 59, guests Chris and Neda Morvillo, 59 and 57, and Jonathan and Judy Bloomer, 70 and 71, may sue if negligence can be proven. But the best chance of discovering what really happened is by returning the ill-fated boat to the surface. The risks posed by the perilous operation were made clear on May 9, when Dutch diver Robcornelis Maria Huijben Uiben, 39, was killed in an explosion as he tried to cut the yacht's boom — a pole along the bottom of a sail — with an oxy-acetylene torch. as much as possible. When I saw the cold images of super-professional divers of the wreck on the screen, my heart sank. Massimo Sestini The boom was the first part of the Bayesian to be recovered last week, and the rest is set to be salvaged any day now. That means Massimo, from Florence, was the last person to have the chance to photograph the wreck. But he insisted the dive did not remind him of his brush with death in Lake Lavarone, in northern Italy, at the end of January. He had stopped breathing under the icy water when there was a malfunction with his air supply. But fortunately a diving instructor was on hand to rescue him. Massimo, who has snapped the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana during a 40-year career, was taken to hospital in a 'critical condition'. The photographer said: 'I feel so privileged because I have a new life. 'For this, a special thank you goes to those who saved me.' His previous exploits include leaning out of helicopters and perching on the end of a ship's rigging to get the best images possible. But watching a coastguard diver inspect the wreck of the Bayesian did remind Massimo of the people who drowned inside the yacht nine months ago. He said: 'When I saw the cold images of super-professional divers of the wreck on the screen, my heart sank. 'I thought of the seven people who died in the shipwreck.' 8 8
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Bayesian's watery grave: Wreck where billionaire Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others died is pictured... and the hatch that was initially blamed for disaster
Clearly visible through the murky depths 150ft below the surface, this is the first time British superyacht Bayesian has been seen since it sank beneath the waves last August. Captured in astonishing detail by a renowned photographer, it shows the gold letters of the doomed vessel's name still proudly displayed on the submerged stern. After just nine months at the bottom of the Mediterranean, the images also show how the wreck is already being reclaimed by nature, with seaweed colonising its once-pristine deck as fish explore the new habitat. As investigations continue into how the 'unsinkable' £30million yacht could sink so suddenly - with the loss of seven lives, including those of British billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah - the images appear to rule out one theory. According to photographer Massimo Sestini, who captured these exclusive images, the Bayesian's stern hatch remains firmly closed. That is despite the initial claim by shipbuilders that it had been left open on the night of the tragedy, allowing water to surge in when a freak storm struck. His photos also show how the wreck lies largely intact on the sea bed off the coast of Sicily as a £20million salvage operation continues to raise it to the surface. The Bayesian - famous for its trademark 236ft mast, one of the world's tallest - took just 16 minutes to sink in the early hours of the morning. Although the Bayesian's tragic sinking with the loss of seven lives happened just nine months ago, Massimo Sestini's images show how the wreck is already being colonised by seaweed and fish It had been hit by a fierce storm with 100mph winds while at anchor off the fishing village of Porticello. Earlier this month an interim report by British investigators highlighted 'vulnerabilities' in the yacht's stability which meant its crew were unable to prevent the 184ft luxury sailing boat from tilting violently on its side. The captain and crew would have been unaware as the information was not laid out in a safety booklet onboard, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said. Earlier this month the vessel – which locals say is cursed – claimed the life of an eighth person, a Dutch diver who was working on the £20million salvage operation. In response, all manned diving operations were temporarily suspended, with exploration instead carried out by undersea robots. Diving the wreck before the latest tragedy, Mr Sestini said conditions on the seabed were treacherous. A lack of sunlight at that depth combined with sediment swirling in the current combined to reduce visibility to as little as one metre. 'When I connected my camera to the computer and saw the images of the wreck on the screen, my heart sank,' said the photographer, who himself almost drowned while diving beneath a frozen Italian lake earlier this year. Divers can only spend ten minutes at a time on the wreck - with the dangers of the unforgiving conditions and poor visibility 150ft below the surface underlined by the tragic loss of a Dutch diver on May 9 during recovery efforts Sicilian fishermen say the benign waters of the Mediterranean on a calm day belie the fearsome winds which can be whipped up by sudden storms His photographs of the Bayesian's wreck shows its sinking was 'truly a great mystery', he told Italian publication Oggi. 'The wreck seems intact,' he added. Mr Sestini said while it was 'said at the beginning' that an open stern hatch caused 'huge amounts' of water to inundate the yacht when the storm struck, 'my photos show that the door is closed'. Within days of the disaster on August 19 last year, the CEO of Italian Sea Group - which bought the Bayesian's constructors Perini Navi two years ago - blamed 'human error'. The stern hatch was 'clearly' open, Giovanni Costantino told Italian media. The firm has yet to comment on the MAIB report. Bayesian was legally owned by Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares, who survived the disaster. The other victims were banking executive Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo and the yacht's chef, Recaldo Thomas. The tragedy last August killed seven people including British billionaire and tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah The moment the doomed Bayesian sank in the early hours of August 19 last year was captured by security cameras of a nearby villa on the coast Three crew members are currently facing possible charges of manslaughter and causing a disaster under an Italian criminal investigation. However Under Italian law the fact the men - captain James Cutfield, chief engineer Timothy Parker Eaton and deckhand Matthew Griffiths - have been placed under investigation does not imply guilt and does not necessarily mean that charges will be brought against them. Minute by minute, how the Bayesian tragedy unfolded August 18 - PM: The Bayesian was anchored at Cefalù on the northern coast of Sicily to shelter from the forecast weather and to allow for easy disembarkation of guests the following day. August 19 - 00.30am: Having checked the weather the captain and the last guest had retired, leaving deckhand (DH1) and the evening steward (S1) on duty. 01.00am: The second deckhand (DH2) took over the watch. The wind at this time was noted as being no more than 8kts (9.2pmh). 03.00am: DH2 noted the wind as being at 8kts (9.2pmh) from the west but thought that the thunderclouds and lightning seemed to be getting closer. 03.55am: The deckhand 'videoed the advancing storm and posted it to their social media feed' before closing the hatches and cockpit windows. 03.57am: The winds had picked up to 30kts (35mph) and the Bayesian was listing and dragging its anchor. 04.00am: The deckhand ran to wake up the skipper and the crew leapt into action and began preparing to manoeuvre the Bayesian by starting the generators and steering pumps. The rest of the crew, woken by either the captain or the yacht's change of motion, got up and made their way out of the crew accommodation. Chef Recaldo Thomas was spotted in the galley stowing cutlery, pots and pan and called out 'Good morning!' to nearby stewards. The Bayesian was lying with the wind about 60 degree off the port bow and moving at 1.8kts south-south-east of its original position. Two guests – a British couple – had been woken by the movements and decided to head to the saloon with their baby. 4.06am: Disaster struck as the wind suddenly increased to more than 70kts (80.5mph) ripping the awning away. The Bayesian 'violently heeled over' in less than 15 seconds to a 90-degree angle. The sudden movement sent people as well as furniture flying across the deck leaving five people including the captain injured while a deckhand was thrown into the sea. Two guests trapped in their cabin were forced to used furniture drawers as an improvised ladder to escape into the saloon area. The yacht's crew were able to push four guests through the cascading water up to the skipper on the flying bridge. The captain called for the guests and crew to swim clear of the mast and boom as the vessel sank. 04.22am: The crew had launched the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB). They noted that the wind had eased and that Bayesian was only a short distance from shore. In the water, a deckhand(DH2) improvised a tourniquet for one of the guest's gashed arm while a cushion was used as a flotation device foe the baby. Some of the survivors were treading water and others held on to some cushions that had floated free from Bayesian. One of the guests frantically searched for other survivors in vain using the torch from their phone - while the captain and chief officer frantically freed the life raft from the sinking wreck. 04.24am: The captain and chief officer frantically freed the life raft from the sinking wreck. It was was inflated and the survivors were able to get inside it where the crew began administering first aid. The skipper tried to raise the alarm by shouting at and then paddling towards the nearby vessel the Sir Robert Baden Powell. 04.34am: The Chief Engineer fired a red parachute flare from the life raft. Despite the winds being calm at the surface, the flare was carried sideways. He then used the life raft's torch to signal towards a hotel on the cliffs above them, passing cars, and Sir Robert Baden Powell. 04.43am: The Chief engineer fired a second parachute flare that was seen by the crew of Sir Robert Baden Powell. Responding to the flare, the skipper dispatched its tender towards the visible lights of the EPIRB and life raft. 04.53am: The tender carrying the 15 survivors returned to Sir Robert Baden Powell and a brief search was look for the missing seven people who were also on board. 04.56am: The tender from Sir Robert Baden Powell returned to the scene with Bayesian's Chief Engineer and skipper on board to search for other survivors. The local coastguard was called to arrange to transfer the survivors to shore.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- The Guardian
‘That damned night': Porticello awaits the truth about Bayesian sinking
Some say that the late tech tycoon Mike Lynch's superyacht, Bayesian, sank because it was vulnerable to high winds that drove the vessel past its point of stability. Others insist that a chain of human errors led to the incident that claimed seven lives, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. But in the quiet Sicilian fishing village of Porticello – where on 19 August 2024 the Bayesian was caught shortly before dawn in a violent storm while anchored off coast – everyone knows the truth lies 50 metres below the surface, in the wreckage of a yacht that divers, floating cranes and underwater drones are still struggling to bring back from the depths of the ocean. ''Until then, before the vessel is brought back to the surface and examined by investigators, the causes behind this tragedy will remain a mystery,' says Pietro Guida, 68, who each morning watches the recovery efforts of the Bayesian from the breakwater of Porticello's pier, passing the time as he waits for a fish to bite his line. In front of him, towering floating cranes dominate the seascape. They have been at work for weeks on the salvage operation. From time to time, a group of divers emerge from the water and are pulled onboard a motorboat, where fresh divers prepare to descend and take their place. On 9 May, a 39-year-old Dutch diver and member of their team died while working underwater in preparation to cut the ship's mainmast, with the operations suspended for about a week. His death has shaken the small fishing community of Porticello, where people had already labelled the yacht's sinking 'the Bayesian curse'. It is a label that has extended beyond the incident itself. Driven by intense media coverage, the village and its coastline have also come under scrutiny – depicted on social media as a sort of Bermuda Triangle, a place sailors are being advised to avoid. 'They've talked about supernatural currents, about waters where ships vanish,' says Gina Lo Bue, 45, who owns a restaurant a few metres from the Porticello pier. 'It's all nonsense! The waters in front of the port have always been calm. The storm that hit the Bayesian was something we'd never seen before – something that could have happened anywhere.' The bars that nine months ago, during the harrowing days of body recovery, teemed with curious onlookers and journalists from around the world are now almost deserted. Only the occasional pair of tourists wander up to the pier to snap a photo of the cranes still at work, eager to capture the disaster site that had the world holding its breath for weeks. In a small bay a few hundred metres along from the breakwater, a handful of swimmers slip into the sea. They seem unfazed by the towering cranes rising behind them – or by the reason those machines are there. Summer is nearly here in Sicily. A preliminary safety report last week by the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) detailed the final, tragic 18 minutes before the 56-metre (184ft) sailboat slipped beneath the waves. Shortly before 4am local time the Bayesian started dragging on its anchor and a young deckhand posted on his social media account a video of the storm approaching. Then he woke up the captain, who went to the bridge, while the chief engineer went to the engine room to prepare the vessel for manoeuvring. The wind suddenly increased at 4.06am, causing the yacht to heel over to 90 degrees in less than 15 seconds, sending people, furniture and loose items flying across the deck. 'I woke up with a jolt in the middle of the night,' says Lo Bue. 'The wind swept away the chairs and tables of the bars along the port – it felt like an earthquake.' What the MAIB described as a possible 'tornadic waterspout' headed towards the boats in the harbour. The docks seemed to divert the whirlwind, which went straight towards the Bayesian. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Water came in over the starboard rails and within seconds entered the vessel down the stairwells, the report said. The captain told guests and crew on the bridge to abandon the yacht and swim clear of the mast and boom as it was sinking. Nine crew members and six guests were rescued from a life raft, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, whose company owned the Bayesian. The others were trapped inside the vessel as it went down. Alongside the work of the MAIB, Sicilian prosecutors have opened an inquiry into suspected manslaughter. The captain, James Cutfield, from New Zealand, and two British crew members, Tim Parker Eaton and Matthew Griffiths, have been placed under investigation. In Italy, being placed under investigation does not imply guilt, nor does it necessarily lead to formal charges. The prosecutors have said some members of the crew may have acted with negligence. 'Negligence? I'd like to see what the most experienced sailor in the world would've done in the face of a tornado's force,' says Franco Balestrieri, 63. He and his brother Gaetano own two fishing boats in Porticello, and both are former yacht captains. 'A vortex like that often causes the anchor to twist around the keel – which was probably raised – and the boat loses stability, Franco says. 'Once the power went out, water got in everywhere. When a storm like that hits, you don't always have time to react or get to safety. You can't condemn anyone. And you certainly can't blame the engineers who built the boat.' 'My brother and I have seen plenty of storms,' Gaetano says. 'Do you think it's easy to stay calm when waves are crashing over you and the wind's tearing your crew away?' He pointed toward the calm waters just beyond the port. 'You see this ocean? Look at it. In Sicily we have a saying: 'The sea may be soft, but when it crashes, it crashes hard.'' 'And that damned night,' he adds, 'the waters … they crashed really hard.'
The Sun
20-05-2025
- The Sun
First wreckage from Brit billionaire Mike Lynch's doomed Bayesian superyacht hauled to surface 9 months after disaster
THE first parts of tragic tycoon Mike Lynch's superyacht Bayesian have been raised from the seabed. Divers recovered the main boom and anchor, nine months after the billionaire, his daughter Hannah and seven others died after the ship sank off the coast of Sicily. 3 3 3 A pole which holds the bottom of the sail on the 184ft yacht was also recovered. Salvors used a diamond cutting wire on the boom, sail and furling gear near the mast. They lifted them onto Hebo Lift 2, a multi-purpose floating barge equipped with diving and underwater vehicle systems. A high-tech remote-controlled submersible was then used to cut one of the vessel's anchor chains, allowing it to be brought up from its position 164ft below the water. Further specialist equipment is required for the eventual lifting of the entire Bayesian. This will be loaded onto the colossal 5,695-gross-tonne Hebo Lift 10 - said to be one of the most powerful maritime cranes in Europe. It is hoped that salvaging the wreckage of the sunken ship from its position 164ft below the water will provide some answers about the disaster. is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.
CNN
20-05-2025
- CNN
First major piece of Bayesian superyacht recovered from seabed
Salvage crews have recovered the boom from the $40 million Bayesian luxury yacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily in August 2024, killing seven people, including British billionaire tech tycoon Michael Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. The boom, which was connected to the 72-meter (236-foot) mast—one of the tallest on any sailboat—is the first known piece of debris to brought out of the water. On May 9, a 39-year-old Dutch specialist diver Robcornelis Maria Huijben Uiben died in an underwater explosion when trying to detach the boom from the vessel, Italian Coast Guard officials said. The recovery of the boom will be part of the forensic investigation into the diver's death, officials told CNN. The 55.9 meter (184-foot) yacht, which still has 18,000 liters of fuel onboard, went down in a sudden storm on August 19 while moored near Porticello, Sicily near Palermo. Fifteen people, including nine crew members, survived. British investigators, who were on the scene days after the accident, published a 'desktop' report last week in which they concluded that the ship sank due to structural problems with the vessel. Italian investigators have publicly dismissed the findings and have told local reporters that until the vessel can be examined once out of the water, no conclusion into the cause of the sinking can be determined. The ship is lying on its starboard side on the seabed, meaning no images have been taken of that part of the vessel to determine its condition. An official with Smit Salvage, which is part of the salvage team led by TMC Marine, told CNN that the hatches appear open, meaning the crew may not have battened down the hatches as the storm approached. One of the crew members posted a video of the storm in the distance, which investigators say shows that they were aware of the weather, according to the British report. No one has been charged with any criminal culpability in the accident, but the ship captain James Cutfield and two other crew members are under investigation for their role in the deaths of the passengers, which included one crew member. The vessel is thought to contain watertight safes in which Lynch kept highly encrypted hard drives. Investigators have told CNN that they cannot verify the existence of any safes or contents until the ship is brought out of the water. The timetable to lift the yacht from the seabed some 50 meters below the surface of the water originally stated that the mast and boom would be left on the seabed until after the hull of the luxury yacht is pulled out of the water. The boom was instead brought out first to aid in the investigation into the salvage diver's death. It is unclear when the mast, which is being cut from the vessel, will be pulled from the water. The hull of the yacht is scheduled to be brought up between May 26 and May 28, weather permitting. Once emptied of water, the wreckage will be lifted by crane to the port of Termini Imerese where it will be sequestered and examined by officials. A full report is expected by the end of the summer.
