Sicily: Two days after a luxury super yacht sailboat carrying foreign tourists capsized and sank off Sicily due to bad weather, divers and rescue crews have now recovered four bodies from the wreckage of the boat, taking the death count to five while the search continued for two more missing passengers. UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah are among the six people missing as questions remain on how the ship sank within minutes.
The British-flagged, 56-metre "Bayesian" had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, representing British, American and Canadian nationalities, the Italian coast guard said. Atr least 15 people were rescued initially and taken to shore at Porticello, where eight were in the hospital. One body was found near the wreck, but six others were unaccounted for, said Luca Cari, a spokesperson for the Italian fire rescue service.
As of Wednesday, divers recovered two body bags and unloaded them at the port in Porticello, while two other bodies had also been found Wednesday in the wreckage for a total of four. The discovery indicated that the operation to search the hull on the seabed 50 meters (164 feet) underwater was a recovery one, not a rescue, given the amount of time that had passed and no signs of life had emerged over three days of searching, as per maritime experts.
How did the ship sink so quickly?
The first casualty of the incident was the yacht's Antigua-born chef, Recaldo Thomas. Others missing included Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and associates who had successfully defended him in a recent US federal fraud trial. Questions abound about what caused the superyacht, which was built in 2008 by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, to sink so quickly.
However, civil protection officials said they believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank within minutes. Local media said a fierce storm, including water spouts, had battered the area overnight but skies were clear and seas calm by Monday morning. The 15 people, including Lynch's wife, were rescued by a nearby sailboat.
“There's a lot of uncertainty as to whether it had a lifting keel and whether it might have been up,” said Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects and the editor of the Journal of Sailing Technology. “But if it had, then that would reduce the amount of stability that the vessel had, and therefore made it easier for it to roll over on its side,” he said in an interview.
Search operations continue as time runs out
The superyacht was moored off the port at Porticello. Such ships are required to have watertight, sub-compartments that are specifically designed to prevent a rapid, catastrophic sinking even when some parts fill with water. The accident suggested that the water entered the hull too quickly or the vessel flipped over to the side.
Italian coast guard and fire rescue divers, meanwhile, continued the underwater search in dangerous and time-consuming conditions. Because of the depth of the wreck — which is far deeper than most recreational divers are certified for and at a depth that requires special precautions — divers working in tag teams that can only spend about 12 minutes at a time searching.
The limited dive time is designed in part to avoid decompression sickness, also known as the “bends,” which can occur when divers stay underwater for long periods and ascend too quickly, allowing nitrogen gas dissolved in the blood to form bubbles.
(with AP inputs)
