After yacht sinks off Italy, search resumes for six missing, including Mike Lynch
Repeats story to a wider audience.
By Giselda Vagnoni
PALERMO, Sicily, Aug 20 (Reuters) -Rescue teams in Sicily resumed a search for six missing people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, after a luxury yacht was struck by a violent storm and sank on Monday, killing one on board.
The British-flagged "Bayesian," a 56-metre-long (184-ft) sailboat was carrying 22 people and was anchored just off the port of Porticello when it was hit by ferocious weather.
Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International MS.N and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Lynch in a U.S. trial, were among the missing.
The wives of both men were also unaccounted for, said Salvatore Cocina, head of civil protection in Sicily.
"The fear is that the bodies got trapped inside the vessel," he told Reuters.
Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation into the incident.
Specialist divers had reached the ship on Monday at a depth of some 50 metres, but access was limited due to objects in the way, the fire brigade said.
Fifteen people had escaped before the boat went down, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a one-year-old girl.
On Monday, rescue teams recovered the body of the yacht's onboard chef, identified as Antiguan citizen Ricardo Thomas.
Storms and heavy rainfall have swept Italy in recent days, after weeks of scorching heat lifted the temperature of the Mediterranean sea to record levels, raising the risk of extreme weather conditions, experts said.
"The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), which is almost 3 degrees more than normal. This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms," said meteorologist Luca Mercalli.
"We can't say that this is all due to global warming but we can say that it has an amplifying effect," he told Reuters.
The British government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four inspectors had been sent to Sicily to conduct a "preliminary assessment."
One expert at the scene of the disaster who declined to be named said an early focus of the investigation would be whether the yacht's crew had had time to close access hatches into the vessel before the storm struck.
NEWSMAKER-Mike Lynch, the UK tycoon who defeated US fraud charges, missing at sea ID:nL8N3K6102
Writing by Crispian Balmer and Giulia Segreti
Editing by Bernadette Baum
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
