Great Britain Sinking off Sicily: a party turns into a nightmare

It was supposed to be Mike Lynch's "second life". "The question is: what do you do with it?" mused the British tech entrepreneur after his completely surprising acquittal in a fraud trial in the USA.

Now Mike Lynch is missing: the 59-year-old was on board the luxury yacht "Bayesian", which sank in a storm off Sicily.

Divers are also searching for his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and four other people, two married couples, at a depth of around 50 meters. 15 passengers were rescued and one body was found, believed to be the cook on board.

Survivors report dramatic scenes. "I couldn't keep my eyes open in the water. I called for help, but all I could hear were the screams of the others," says a New Zealander named Charlotte. She works for a law firm that represented Lynch in the trial. On board with her was her one-year-old daughter: "I held her above the water with all my strength, stretching my arms up so she wouldn't drown."

The British tabloid "Daily Mirror" ran the headline: "Hero mother rescues baby from sea hell." The woman's partner also survived, as did Lynch's wife. There were a total of 22 people on board the "Bayesian", twelve guests and ten employees.

Lynch was acquitted in the USA

Lynch is referred to as the "British Bill Gates" by tabloid media in his home country. He is the co-founder of the software company Autonomy, which was sold to the US company Hewlett Packard for eleven billion US dollars in 2011. The trial in San Francisco revolved around this deal.

The Autonomy purchase is considered one of the worst takeover debacles in Silicon Valley. Lynch and former finance manager Steve Chamberlain - who was fatally hit by a car while jogging just a few days before the shipwreck - are alleged to have misled Hewlett-Packard about the company's financial status. But the jury saw it differently - and surprisingly decided to acquit.

Friends and supporters invited

Lynch apparently wanted to celebrate his trial success on the yacht. He invited friends and supporters to the "Bayesian". According to the BBC, the missing persons are a financial manager who testified on Lynch's behalf, a lawyer and their partners. The head of the specialist insurer Hiscox confirmed that the chairman of the supervisory board, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife were missing.

The ship's name honors the British mathematician Thomas Bayes (1701-1761), whom Lynch had praised in the past. Bayesian inference is regarded as the basis for modern artificial intelligence and computer analysis.

But what began as a party on the luxury yacht off the picturesque coast of Sicily ended dramatically. The huge ship was anchored half a nautical mile off the port of Porticello on Monday night. In the early morning, the north coast of Sicily was hit by a severe storm with strong winds. A so-called water tornado hit the ship. This weather phenomenon creates strong ground vortices. When the waterspout hit the ship, the 75-meter-high mast broke.

It is unclear why the ship was anchored half a nautical mile off the coast in the difficult weather conditions. "We didn't see it coming," the newspaper "La Repubblica" quotes the captain of the "Bayesian". He is also being treated in hospital.

"It all happened very quickly"

According to the authorities' initial findings, the ship capsized immediately afterwards. Apparently so quickly that not all passengers were able to free themselves from their cabins on the lower deck. The German captain of a nearby ship, who came to the aid of the survivors and took them on board, described the accident to Italian media: "First the boat tipped on its side and within a few minutes it had sunk. It all happened very quickly."

The "Bayesian" was built in 2008 at the Perini Navi shipyard in Tuscany, as reported by the newspaper "La Repubblica". It was renovated and has been used for luxury cruises since 2020. The ship has a length of 56 meters and is eleven meters wide. The large yacht can accommodate a total of twelve guests in six cabins, including a luxurious master suite.

Difficult search

However, the search for the missing persons is proving difficult. According to the fire department, the special divers ordered from the Italian mainland were able to penetrate the interior of the wreck and examine some of the rooms below the bridge. However, numerous obstacles blocked their way and the confined space also presented them with difficulties.

The fire department's diving teams consist of two specialized cave divers, who remain at depth for twelve minutes before ascending and constantly alternate with another team. They are currently looking into opening the wreck underwater to gain access. Access to the cabins on the lower deck, where the missing persons are believed to be, is still blocked.