‘Like a skyscraper full of water,’ Bayesian divers reveal hellish superyacht search as Hannah Lynch’s body is recovered
EXPERT divers who hunted for the missing Bayesian passengers have compared the tragic process to searching a skyscraper full of water.
The last body of Hannah Lynch was recovered today after the teen’s dad, billionaire businessman Mike Lynch, 59, was retrieved yesterday – bringing the operation to an end.
Guests Jonathan and Judy Bloomer, Chris and Neda Morvillo and the yacht chef Recaldo Thomas have also been discovered.
The gruelling search for the Bayesian passengers lasted for five days with divers scouring the wreck as they tried to enter the flooded yacht.
Vincenzo Zagarola, who formed part of the Italian Coastguard’s operations this week, said the search has been extremely hard.
He told reporters in Sicily: “From the first moment, it has not been easy or quick to inspect the boat.
“Think of an 18-storey building full of water.”
The 184ft Bayesian plunged beneath the waves after being hammered by a rare “Black Swan” waterspout at around 5am on Monday.
According to witnesses from a small nearby boat, the 246ft tall mast was hit by a tornado, toppling the boat and causing it to capsize.
The ship quickly sank in the storm as divers discovered it sat 164ft below the surface on the sea bed.
Divers were said to have struggled to get inside the wreck due to floating debris and furniture blocking their way.
Underwater drone robots were deployed to assist in the search mission with pictures showing divers operating it from a boat on the surface.
On Tuesday afternoon they carved a hole in the hull of the boat to enable people to swim into the wreckage and retrieve those trapped.
Divers finally reached the “master cabin” late on Wednesday morning – possibly where the captain stayed – according to Italian outlet Giornale Di Sicilia.
Another huge issue was the length of time divers were able to stay underwater for.
Luca Cari, head of the local Fire Brigade, explained: “They can stay underwater for a maximum of 12 minutes, two of which are needed to go up and down.
“So the real time to be able to carry out the search is 10 minutes per dive.”
Nick Sloane, the engineer who led efforts to save those trapped inside the infamous Concordia wreck in 2012 also labelled the operation as “very dangerous”.
Sloane has also warned that rescuing the vessel will be key to solving the mystery of what made the Bayesian sink but that it could take months to bring it safely to land and cost millions.
What caused the sinking £14million vessel is still unknown and workers are now expected to have to dredge the yacht up from the sea in order to complete their investigation.
Bringing the wreck ashore will give investigators the chance to properly scour the boat as part of their probe.
It comes as…
- All bodies have been recovered from the yacht wreck including Brit tycoon Mike Lynch
- Final 16 minutes of the doomed Bayesian’s journey revealed through yacht’s ‘black box’
- Concordia engineer reveals raising yacht could take months and cost millions
- The CEO of the firm that produced the Bayesian said the boat is ‘unsinkable’ and pointed to human error
- Captain James Cutfield was quizzed for two hours by cops and remains at the centre of a probe
- Experts believe the yacht’s ‘tallest mast in the world‘ may have contributed to the disaster after a freak ‘Black Swan’ weather event struck
- Pictures showed the tiny raft that saved up to 15 people
Since the body of Hannah, 18, was recovered a number of touching tributes have poured in.
The gifted teen was remembered as “ferociously intelligent” after securing her place to study English at the University of Oxford only days ago.
A spokesperson for the Lynch family said they are “devastated”, and “in shock” after the loss of Hannah and her dad.
The statement read: “Their thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy.
“They would like to sincerely thank the Italian coastguard, emergency services and all those who helped in the rescue.”
Fifteen of the 22 people onboard were rescued as the £14million yacht capsized and sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily on Monday.
Lynch’s wife and Hannah’s mum – Angela Bacares, 57 – was one of those who managed to escape in a tiny life raft as the vessel capsized.
More details about the disaster surfaced yesterday as emergency workers revealed how the passengers tried to flee the water as it gushed onboard.
Witnesses said the boat’s tall mast was struck by a “tornado” -referring to a swirling cloud-like waterspout caused by a freak storm off the coast of Porticello Harbour.
It toppled the boat causing it to capsize and take on huge amounts of water as it plunged to the bottom of the sea.
Divers said the guests pulled from the wreckage fled their cabins on the right – known as starboard – side of the boat.
They then tried to “climb” to safety by heading for the left – port side – where they were found by divers.
A source working in the investigation told Italian outlet Corriere: “We found them all on that side.
“We had maps with the layout of the cabins and the positions of the guests, and that’s not where we recovered them.”
The CEO of the firm that built the Bayesian told The Sun how crew error could be responsible for the disaster aboard the “unsinkable” boat.
Prosecutors from the nearby town of Termini Imerese spent more than two hours quizzing Kiwi Captain James Cutfield, 51, about the tragedy this week.
Who is Mike Lynch?
FORMER billionaire entrepreneur Mike Lynch was found dead on Thursday morning after a £14m luxury yacht capsized in a tornado off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning.
He is thought to be among the five bodies recovered from the sunken boat alongside Morgan Stanley chief Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda.
The tech tycoon, dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates”, was one of the 22 people sailing onboard the £166,000 a week vessel.
Lynch, 59, was a serial entrepreneur having founded and sold tech and software companies with one of his biggest being Autonomy Corporation.
He was also been involved in Invoke Capital and cybersecurity company Darktrace.
As well as being awarded an OBE for his services to enterprise in 2006.
Born in Ilford, Lynch had a firefighter father from County Cork and a nurse mother from County Tipperary.
Away from work, Mike was happily married to wife Angela Bacares and the pair had two children together.
Angela is among those who have been rescued on the superyacht.
In 2023, the Sunday Times rich list set the couple’s value at £852m.
But Mike was extradited to the US on fraud charges back in 2023 with a judge setting his bail at £79m.
Just weeks ago, Lynch was acquitted of criminal charges by a jury in San Francisco after a 12-year legal battle over the $11bn sale of his firm, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
The doomed yacht, named Bayesian, is also said to be owned by the Lynch family.