An elite unit of the Italian navy is sending divers and robots to the wreck of British tech mogul Mike Lynch’s superyacht to investigate the tragic sinking that killed seven people.
Lynch’s yacht, the Bayesian, currently lies more than 160 feet beneath the waters surrounding Porticello, Sicily, after sinking in the early morning hours of August 19.
Seven people, including Lynch and her 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who was due to start studying at Oxford University later this month, have died after a freak storm hit the Sicilian port city.
Investigating authorities have raised questions about how the 30 million-pound ship, which measured more than 180 feet long, sank so quickly that seven of the 22 people who were on board at the time died.
In an attempt to answer these questions, the Italian navy is sending six divers from its elite Comsubin unit, the equivalent of Britain’s Special Boat Service, a source close to the investigation told the Times.
Elite divers will search for electronic equipment, including CCTV and data storage systems, and see if doors were left open when the ship sank.
An elite unit of the Italian navy is sending divers and robots to the wreck of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht to investigate the tragic sinking (file image)
Lynch’s yacht, the Bayesian (pictured), currently lies more than 160 feet beneath the waters surrounding Porticello, Sicily.
Seven people, including Lynch and her 18-year-old daughter Hannah (both pictured), have died after an unexpected storm hit the Sicilian port city.
These tests will be used to “verify the statements made by the yacht’s crew,” the source told the newspaper.
The ship’s captain, 51-year-old New Zealander Cutfield, is among three people under investigation by judicial authorities following last month’s tragedy.
Chief Engineer Tim Parker Eaton, 56, and Matthew Griffiths, 22, are both British and, like the captain, are also under investigation for their alleged involvement in the deaths of the seven people on board the Bayesian.
Four of the victims are feared to have suffocated in air bubbles filled with carbon dioxide, according to their autopsies.
Autopsies carried out on the victims at Palermo’s Policlinico hospital so far revealed they had no water in their lungs, raising the terrifying possibility that they may have been conscious when the yacht sank, according to Italian media outlet La Republica.
An Italian media outlet claimed the couple’s lungs “were not filled with water, nor were their stomachs or tracheas.”
The first autopsies were performed on attorney Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda (both pictured) and they were also found to have no water in their lungs in the autopsies performed.
Recaldo Thomas, head chef of the Bayesian, was the first person to be recovered after the sinking of the yacht
The British-flagged Bayesian superyacht (pictured) was registered to an Isle of Man company called Revton.
The £30m ship sank off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily at Porticello, near Palermo, on August 19.
A photograph provided on August 19 by the Perini Navi Press Office shows the ‘Bayesiano’ sailboat, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, his wife Judy, New York lawyer Chris Morvillo and his partner Neda showed no signs of injury, Italian media reported.
An autopsy on Mike Lynch indicated he died of asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen, while an autopsy on his daughter Hanna was inconclusive.
Initial tests on the Canadian-former chef on board, Recaldo Thomas, indicated that he died by drowning.
Although Cutfield, Eaton and Griffiths are being investigated by the local prosecutor in Termini Imerese, that does not mean charges will necessarily be brought.
A magistrate will decide whether they should be tried once the investigation is concluded and the evidence is presented.
For now, authorities said efforts to remove the yacht from the bottom of the waters off Porticello will take at least two to three days.
The work will be carried out by the ship’s owner, the British company Revton, controlled by Lynch’s widow, Angela Bacares.
Genoa-based diving company Drafinsub has reportedly been commissioned to use sonar and a submersible robot to examine the yacht and figure out the best plan to refloat it.