A tornado sank a luxury sailing boat off the coast of Sicily

The superyacht "BAYESIAN" tragically sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19, 2024. The yacht, which was caught in a violent storm, went down near Porticello, a small town close to Palermo. The coordinates of the wreck are approximately *38.175° N, 13.530° E*. Rescue efforts were launched immediately, but one person was confirmed dead, and several others, including notable passengers, are still missing.

Sailing yacht BAYESIAN (ex Salute) is a 56 meter 2008 luxury cutter rigged sailing yacht built by Perini Navi and designed by Perini and Ron Holland. Perini Navi is an Italian company often considered worldwide leaders in the design and construction of luxury cruising sailing yachts. Superyacht BAYESIAN is one of the most popular yachts in the successful 56m-series.

Summary of today's developments

• Six people are still missing and feared dead after a yacht capsized off Sicily early on Monday. A search operation continued today involving specialised divers.

• The identity of the body found is Recaldo Thomas, a chef who was part of the crew of the Bayesian yacht, the Italian coastguard told Sky News. Thomas, who is of Canadian-Antiguan heritage, was one of the ten crew members onboard the yacht when it was hit by a tornado.

• Two more survivors have been named as Leah Randall and Katja Chicken, the Italian Coastguard said. The pair, who are both South African, worked as crew members on the Bayesian vessel.

• The missing individuals have been named as Mike Lynch, a British tech entrepreneur once regarded as the UK’s Bill Gates, Hannah Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, Chris Morvillo, a lawyer who represented Lynch during a trial, and his wife Neda Morvillo, as well as Jonathan Bloomer, the chair of Morgan Stanley International bank, and his wife Judy Bloomer, a charity trustee.

• The national director of Italy’s firefighting department divers, Giuseppe Petrone, said his team has managed to locate a breach in the sailboat’s hull and is working to open a passage to reach the cabins.

• The British ambassador to Italy, Edward Llewellyn, told reporters he spoke with survivors. “I wanted to express my solidarity and that of the British embassy. But I also came to speak with the Italian authorities,” he said.

• Karsten Borner, the captain of a nearby sailboat that was right next to the Bayesian, said that “I have never seen a vessel of this size go down so quickly. Within a few minutes, there was nothing left. Then we saw the raft with the 15 passengers. “It was a tragedy,” he added.

• Emergency teams trying to access the submerged Bayesian yacht will have to make “a big choice” as the rescue efforts intensify, a maritime diving and wreckage expert has said.

  Bertrand Sciboz told BBC News: “I think 50 metres is a limit to dive with a certain category of professional divers, so you will need to dive with some kind of helmet and pipe and (be) connected to the surface for oxygen, and also for for speaking and hearing and telling what you see and and do.

  “It’s always very difficult, and especially with a sailing vessel, because you’ve got rope everywhere, you’ve got a sail which is floating in the current, because we are in Mediterranean Sea and not in the English Channel.

  “But the main thing, you know, it’s the fact that in those kind of conditions, it’s very hard to go inside the wreck, and they will have to have to make a big choice at one mome.

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