million dollar yacht sinks

2 rescued after $1 million, 80-foot luxury sport yacht sinks off Florida coast

According to the coast guard, the incident was reported just after 11:35 a.m. saturday about 3 miles off st. augustine beach, by nbc6 • published may 27, 2024 • updated on may 28, 2024 at 10:54 am.

Two people were rescued moments before a $1 million luxury 80-foot sport yacht sank off the coast of Florida Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

According to the Coast Guard, the incident was reported just after 11:35 a.m. Saturday about 3 miles off St. Augustine Beach.

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The operator of the massive vessel, the Atlantis, said their sport yacht struck an object in the water and was sinking, officials said.

The @USCG and @SJCFireRescue rescued 2 people, Saturday, from an 80-foot motor yacht taking on water 3 miles off St. Augustine Beach, #Florida . Read more: https://t.co/LiuWY8ByLh pic.twitter.com/fNWgbXlb8d — USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) May 25, 2024

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According to NBC6 affiliate WFLA , who originally reported the story, Coast Guard Station Mayport sent a boat crew to assist.

The Coast Guard also teamed up with St. John’s County Fire and Rescue, which soon arrived and rescued both people from the yacht with no injuries reported.

According to WFLA, the Atlantis appears to be a 1999 or early 2000s model of the Sunseeker Predator 80.

Atlantis has two Caterpillar diesel engines and can reach a top speed of 44 kn or 50 mph, according to data from Boat International.

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After Saturday’s incident, a hazard to navigation was broadcast to alert mariners of the yacht, which could damage to other vessels on the water, the Coast Guard said.

The owner of the Atlantis will now have to arrange for a salvage of the vessel, the Coast Guard said.

The cause of the incident is still under investigation.

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Yacht capsizes near Chesapeake Bay, witnesses describe rescue of five people onboard

By Mike Hellgren

Updated on: July 29, 2024 / 6:11 PM EDT / CBS Baltimore

BALTIMORE -- Incredible images show a large yacht that capsized near the Chesapeake Bay in Edgewater, Anne Arundel County over the weekend. 

Many boaters were stunned by the scene where a 122-foot yacht sunk in a heavily traveled area at the mouth of the West River. 

To the rescue

The yacht sunk within minutes and people had to be plucked from the water.

Trevor Hardman, from Tour Boat Annapolis, was on a friend's boat nearby when he saw the Lovebug, a 122-foot yacht, as it began to sink just after 12:30 p.m. Saturday, and he got closer to help. 

"As we tried to figure out what part of the boat we were looking at, we realized it slowly started to list and lean over to one side," Hardman said. "I would say within four to five minutes the boat was consumed and the captain had made the determination that they needed to abandon ship."

WJZ reviewed emergency dispatch recordings where responders were advised the yacht "is completely turned on its side now, and there's possibly a tow boat out there. There are also eight to nine boats around it as well."

Hardman credits Towboat U.S. and first responders with helping save the five people onboard. 

"They did have to abandon ship and they did go in the water off the stern of the boat," Hardmen said. "It could have been a lot worse had everybody not remained calm and spoke on the radio and were clear to make sure that everybody was accounted for. That was my number one priority: How many people are onboard, many people are in the water, who do we have, who do we not have…It was a joint effort."

Hardman also credited the boating community for rushing to assist.

"People were certainly waiting to help," Hardman said. "It's something you don't find everywhere these days. The boating community came together, no matter who it was to help."

One rescued person onboard complained of head soreness but declined to get checked out at the hospital. 

"We were taking on water"

The luxury yacht, also known as the Anastasia M, docks at the Annapolis Yacht Club and is known to many boaters in the area. It charters for $125,000 a week according to online listings.

Hardman spoke to the captain once he was rescued. 

"In the moment, I was like did you run aground? He was like, 'No, but I was headed this way. We were taking on water.' Boats of that size have alarms that tell you when there's water inside the boat. They were ear piercing to be able to hear those high-water alarms going off," Hardman said.

First responders placed barriers around the yacht to contain any possible fuel and told WJZ they are still working to get it out of the water. They do not believe any fuel spilled.

How did the boat capsize?

The cause of the sinking is unknown.

"The biggest thing now is just to get the vessel salvage so that we can hopefully get some clues as to what happened," said Cpl. Christopher Neville, with Maryland DNR police. "Once everybody was secured, it was just a matter of placing the safety protocols around the boat to keep out contaminants and trying to follow up with the captain and owner of the vessel."

Maryland DNR is the lead investigative agency. 

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren came to WJZ in the spring of 2004. Solid reporting credentials and a reputation for breaking important news stories have characterized Mike's work. Mike holds a B.S. degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and grew up partly in both Chicago and Louisiana.

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$1 million luxury yacht sinks off coast of Florida

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PHOTOS: 2 rescued from sinking $1 million yacht off Florida coast

Luxury 80-foot yacht hit something before sinking.

Brenda Argueta , Digital Journalist

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. – Two people were rescued from their sinking yacht by the U.S. Coast Guard off the Florida coast.

The incident happened Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean off St. Augustine Beach.

The operator of the 80-foot, nearly $1 million yacht, said they hit something in the water and the boat started going down.

The Coast Guard was able to get both people on the yacht to safety.

The @USCG and @SJCFireRescue rescued 2 people, Saturday, from an 80-foot motor yacht taking on water 3 miles off St. Augustine Beach, #Florida . Read more: https://t.co/LiuWY8ByLh pic.twitter.com/fNWgbXlb8d — USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) May 25, 2024

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About the Author

Brenda argueta.

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.

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By Emma Bubola and Michael J. de la Merced

Emma Bubola reported from Porticello, Italy, and Michael J. de la Merced from London.

Two months after being cleared in a bruising legal battle over fraud charges, the British tech mogul Mike Lynch celebrated his freedom with a cruise. He invited his family, friends and part of his legal team on board his luxury sailing yacht, a majestic 180-foot vessel named Bayesian after the mathematical theorem around which he had built his empire.

On Sunday night, after a tour of the Gulf of Naples, including Capri, and volcanic islands in the Eolian archipelago, the boat anchored half a mile off the Sicilian coast in Porticello, Italy. It chose a stretch of water favored by the Phoenicians thousands of years ago for its protection from the mistral wind and, in more recent times, by the yachts of tech billionaires. The boat was lit “like a Christmas tree,” local residents said, standing out against the full moon.

But about 4 a.m., calamity unfolded. A violent and fast storm hit the area with some of the strongest winds locals said they had ever felt. Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman, said he saw a flare pierce the darkness shortly after 4.

Minutes later, the yacht was underwater. Only dozens of cushions from the boat’s deck and a gigantic radar from its mast floated on the surface of the sea, fishermen said.

In all, 22 people were on board, 15 of whom were rescued. Six bodies — five passengers and the ship’s cook — had been recovered by Thursday afternoon, including that of Mr. Lynch, an Italian government official said, adding that the search was continuing for his daughter.

It was a tragic and mystifying turn of events for Mr. Lynch, 59, who had spent years seeking to clear his name and was finally inaugurating a new chapter in his life. Experts wondered how a $40 million yacht, so robust and stable could have been sunk by a storm near a port within minutes.

“It drives me insane,” said Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which in 2022 bought the company, Perini, that made the Bayesian. “Following all the proper procedures, that boat is unsinkable.”

The aura of misfortune only deepened when it emerged that Stephen Chamberlain, 52, a former vice president of finance for Mr. Lynch’s former company and a co-defendant in the fraud case, was killed two days earlier, when he was hit by a car while jogging near his house in England.

Since June, the two men had been in a jubilant mood. A jury in San Francisco had acquitted both on fraud charges that could have sent them to prison for two decades. There were hugs and tears, and they and their legal teams went for a celebratory dinner party at a restaurant in the city, said Gary S. Lincenberg, a lawyer for Mr. Chamberlain.

The sea excursion was meant as a thank-you by Mr. Lynch to those who had helped him in his legal travails. Among the guests was Christopher J. Morvillo, 59, a scion of a prominent New York family of lawyers who had represented Mr. Lynch for 12 years. He and his wife, Neda, 57, were among the missing.

So, too, was Jonathan Bloomer, 70, a veteran British insurance executive who chaired Morgan Stanley International and the insurer Hiscox.

The body of the ship’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered. All the other crew members survived. Among them was Leo Eppel, 19, of South Africa, who was on his first yacht voyage working as a deck steward, said a friend, who asked not to be identified.

Since the sinking, the recovery effort and investigation have turned the tiny port town of Porticello, a quiet enclave where older men sit bare-chested on balconies, into what feels like the set of a movie.

Helicopters have flown overhead. Ambulances have sped by with the sirens blaring. The Coast Guard has patrolled the waters off shore, within sight of a cordoned-off dock that had been turned into an emergency headquarters.

On Wednesday afternoon, a church bell tolled after the first body bag was loaded into an ambulance, a crowd watching in silence.

The survivors were sheltering in a sprawling resort near Porticello, with a view of the shipwreck spot, and had so far declined to comment.

Attilio Di Diodato, director of the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, said that the yacht had most likely been hit by a fierce “down burst” — when air generated within a thunderstorm descends rapidly — or by a waterspout , similar to a tornado over water.

He added that his agency had put out rough-sea warnings the previous evening, alerting sailors about storms and strong winds. Locals said the winds “felt like an earthquake.”

Mr. Costantino, the boat executive, said the yacht had been specifically designed for having a tall mast — the second-tallest aluminum mast in the world. He said the Bayesian was an extremely safe and secure boat that could list even to 75 degrees without capsizing.

But he said that if some of the hatches on the side and in the stern, or some of the deck doors, had been open, the boat could have taken on water and sunk. Standard procedure in such storms, he said, is to switch on the engine, lift the anchor and turn the boat into the wind, lowering the keel for extra stability, closing doors and gathering the guests in the main hall inside the deck.

12 guests occupied the yacht’s six cabins. There were also 10 crew members.

Open hatches, doors and cabin windows could have let in water during a storm, according to the manufacturer.

Open hatches, doors and

cabin windows could

have let in water

during a storm,

according to the

manufacturer.

Source: Superyacht Times, YachtCharterFleet, MarineTraffic

By Veronica Penney

The New York Times attempted to reach the captain, James Cutfield, who had survived, for comment through social media, his brother and the management company of the yacht (which did not hire the crew), but did not make contact.

So far none of the surviving crew members have made a public statement about what happened that night.

Fabio Genco, the director of Palermo’s emergency services, who treated some of the survivors, said that the victims had recounted feeling as if the boat was being lifted, then suddenly dropped, with objects from the cabins falling on them.

The Italian Coast Guard said it had deployed a remotely operated vehicle that can prowl underwater for up to seven hours at a depth of more than 980 feet and record videos and images that they hoped would help them reconstruct the dynamics of the sinking. Such devices were used during the search and rescue operations of the Titan vessel that is believed to have imploded last summer near the wreckage of the Titanic.

After rescuers broke inside the yacht, they struggled to navigate the ropes and many pieces of furniture cluttering the vessel, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for Italy’s national firefighter corps.

Finally, as of Thursday morning, they had managed to retrieve all but one of the missing bodies, and hopes of finding the missing person alive were thin. “Can a human being be underwater for two days?” Mr. Cari asked.

What was certain was that Mr. Lynch’s death was yet another cruel twist of fate for a man who had spent years seeking to clear his name.

He earned a fortune in technology and was nicknamed Britain’s Bill Gates. But for more than a decade, he had been treated as anything but a respected tech leader.

He was accused by Hewlett-Packard, the American technological pioneer that had bought his software company, Autonomy, for $11 billion, of misleading it about his company’s worth. (Hewlett-Packard wrote down the value of the transaction by about $8.8 billion, and critics called it one of the worst deals of all time .) He had been increasingly shunned by the British establishment that he sought to break into after growing up working-class outside London.

He was extradited to San Francisco to face criminal charges, and confined to house arrest and 24-hour surveillance on his dime. In a townhouse in the Pacific Heights neighborhood — with security people he jokingly told associates were his “roommates” — he spent his mornings talking with researchers whom he funded personally on new applications for artificial intelligence. Afterward, he devoted hours to discussing legal strategy with his team.

Despite his persistent claims of innocence, even those close to Mr. Lynch had believed his odds of victory were slim. Autonomy’s chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, was convicted in 2018 of similar fraud charges and spent five years in prison.

During Mr. Lynch’s house arrest, his brother and mother died. His wife, Angela Bacares, frequently flew over from England, and she became a constant presence in the San Francisco courtroom during the trial.

After he was finally acquitted, Mr. Lynch had his eye on the future. “I am looking forward to returning to the U.K. and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” he said.

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Pallanza, Italy.

Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome. More about Emma Bubola

Michael J. de la Merced has covered global business and finance news for The Times since 2006. More about Michael J. de la Merced

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Dramatic video captures the moment superyacht sinks off italian coast.

Dramatic footage has emerged of the moment a 130-foot superyacht capsized off the Italian coast over the weekend, sinking stern-first into the water.

The video, released by the coast guard, showed the yacht named My Saga struggling against the waves before sinking near the Catanzaro Marina on Saturday.

Officials confirmed that nine people were rescued from the sinking vessel.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Designed by naval architect Tim Heywood , My Saga was built in Italy in 2007. At the time of the incident, the boat was en route from Gallipoli to Milazzo under a Cayman Islands flag.

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• Travel Updates

Billionaire tech tycoon Mike Lynch among six missing as superyacht sinks

The captain of the Bayesian superyacht which sank off the coast of Sicily with billionaire owner Mike Lynch on board has broken his silence.

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The captain of the Bayesian superyacht has broken his silence after the vessel sank off the coast of Sicily.

The luxury yacht was hit by a tornado yesterday off the coast of Sicily at about 5am local time.

Six people are missing including the boat’s owner, billionaire tech tycoon Mike Lynch , 59, and his daughter, Hannah, 18.

It is feared some people became trapped in their cabins.

Captain speaks out

The $27 million Bayesian sank when its vast mast collapsed and the vessel capsized.

The ship’s captain James Calfield, 51, spoke from hospital yesterday and said had no idea the tornado was coming towards the ship.

“We didn’t see it coming,” he told La Repubblica.

Some 22 horrified passengers, made up of passengers and staff, screamed in fear as the boat flipped over.

Fifteen people were rescued, six are missing and one has already been found dead – understood to be the yacht’s cook.

A source close to the recovery operation also told AFP divers who recovered the first body had seen one of the missing six trapped inside the sunken vessel.

Specialist cave divers and their equipment were flown to Sicily to access the confined spaces of the wreck.

Legal battle

The passengers on board were celebrating Mr Lynch’s recent acquittal in a fraud trial, according to British newspaper The Telegraph .

The billionaire entrepreneur sold his tech firm Autonomy to US computing giant Hewlett-Packard for $US11 billion ($16b) in 2011, but a lengthy legal battle followed as he was accused of inflating the value of the company.

A San Francisco jury acquitted Mr Lynch, who has been dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates”, in June.

The guests on the doomed superyacht included staff from the legal firm Clifford Chance and Mr Lynch’s company Invoke Capital, the newspaper reported.

Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, is also among the missing people, according to British newspaper The Times.

Double tragedy as co-defendant dies in England

Eerily, Mr Lynch’s co-defendant in the fraud trial, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car over the weekend. He had also been acquitted of all charges in June.

Mr Chamberlain was hit by a car on Saturday, local time, in Cambridgeshire and taken to hospital where he later died.

He was Autonomy’s vice president of finance before he left the company in 2012.

A source told The Telegraph : “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.

“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity, and we deeply miss him. He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family.”

The Sun understands he was taken off life support on Sunday, just hours before the yacht sank.

Mr Lynch told British newspaper The Times in July that he himself had “various medical things that would have made it difficult to survive” in an American prison.

“It’s bizarre, but now you have a second life. The question is, what do you want to do with it?” he said, speaking about the verdict.

Despite the acquittal, the fraud case is not closed, international news agency AFP reports.

In 2022, London’s High Court ruled in a civil fraud case that HP had been duped and had overpaid for Autonomy.

The court has yet to rule on the billions of dollars in damages claimed by the American group.

Also sued by HP, Autonomy’s former chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain was found guilty of fraud in 2018 by a US jury, with Hussain jailed for five years.

Luxury superyacht sinks

The 56-metre-long, $320,000-a-week vessel was struck by a sudden storm while moored off the coast of Porticello, east of Palermo.

Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is among 15 people who have been rescued.

Three other Brits, two Americans, and one Canadian are among the remaining six missing.

An expert team of divers have already been able to locate the vessel 48 metres below the water on the seabed.

Almost all of the 22 passengers and crew on-board are said to have been inside their cabins and rooms when the weather took a turn.

A one-year-old British girl was rescued by her mum in the sea after the boat sank, before they were rushed to hospital.

Her mother Charlotte Golunski spoke about the frantic rescue, telling Giornale di Sicilia : “For two seconds I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves.

“I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy. Many were screaming.

“Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us managed to get on board.”

The father was also on-board at the time of the horror ordeal.

Ms Golunski managed to swim over to one of the rafts where she and her daughter were taken to safety along with 11 others.

Camper & Nicholsons, the managers of the yacht, said in a statement that they were “assisting with the ongoing search” for the missing people.

“The boat was all lit up. Around 4:30am, it was no longer there,” said one witness cited by ANSA.

“A beautiful boat where there was a party. A normal joyous vacation day at sea turned into tragedy”.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht anchored nearby at the time of the storm, said there was a “very strong hurricane gust” and he had to battle to keep his vessel steady.

All of a sudden “we noticed that the ship behind us was gone”, he told journalists in Porticello.

“We found this life raft … with a little baby, and the wife of the owner,” he said.

Fisherman Fabio Cefalu said he and other fishermen rushed to help after seeing a distress flare go up.

“But we didn’t find anyone in the sea, we only found cushions and the remains of the boat,” he told AFP.

Tech billionaire among those feared dead

Originally from Suffolk in east England, Mr Lynch was a former adviser to two British prime ministers and once a star entrepreneur who seemed to represent a rare tech British success story.

The businessman has a fortune of £500 million ($965 million) according to the latest Sunday Times “Rich List”, and owes his fame to his software firm Autonomy which he sold to Hewlett-Packard for $US11 billion ($16 billion) in 2011.

He founded the company in 1996 in Cambridge, where he earned his doctorate, and turned it into a leading British tech firm.

But just one year after the mega-deal, HP reported a writedown of $US8.8 billion ($13 billion) – including more than $US5 billion ($7.4 billion) it attributed to inflated data from Autonomy – plunging Mr Lynch into a decade-long fraud scandal.

Prosecutors accused him of taking part in a massive scheme as Autonomy’s chief executive to deceive HP by pumping up his company’s value before its sale.

Mr Lynch was extradited from Britain to the US in 2023 to stand trial, facing two decades in jail if convicted of the 17 charges and spending the year in house arrest.

But in June he was acquitted on all charges.

“I am looking forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” Mr Lynch said after the verdict was handed down in a San Francisco court.

Mr Lynch – who made around $US 815 million ($1.2 billion) from the Autonomy sale – always denied the fraud charges, accusing HP of making him a scapegoat for its own failings.

After returning to the UK, Lynch told The Times newspaper in July he had “various medical things that would have made it difficult to survive” in an American prison.

“It’s bizarre, but now you have a second life. The question is, what do you want to do with it?.” he told the publication after his acquittal.

More Coverage

Father of two daughters aged 18 and 21, and a dog lover – owning two dachshunds and four sheepdogs – Mr Lynch has a home in the affluent London district of Chelsea, according to the newspaper, as well as owning a farm in Suffolk.

A spokeswoman for Mr Lynch declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

— with AFP

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PHOTOS: $1 million, 80-foot luxury sport yacht sinks off Florida coast, 2 rescued

Video above: 2 men rescued by Coast Guard after watercraft ‘ran aground’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WNCN) — Two people were rescued just before a million-dollar luxury 80-foot sport yacht sank off the coast of Florida Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The incident was reported just after 11:35 a.m. about 3 miles off St. Augustine Beach, Florida, a news release from the Coast Guard said.

The operator of the Atlantis, an 80-foot sport yacht, said their vessel struck an object in the water and was sinking, officials said.

Coast Guard Station Mayport sent a boat crew to assist. The Coast Guard also coordinated with St. John’s County Fire and Rescue, which soon arrived and plucked both people from the yacht with no injuries.

The Atlantis yacht appears to be a 1999 or early 2000s model of the Sunseeker Predator 80. A larger Sunseeker Predator – with the very unique appearance — was featured in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.

A 2001 Predator that is 5 feet shorter than Atlantis, which sank Saturday, is listed for sale for $975,000.

Sunseeker Predator 80 yacht, built in the United Kingdom, can accommodate up to 6 guests in 4 staterooms, with 2 crew members aboard.

Atlantis has two Caterpillar diesel engines and can reach a top speed of 44 kn or 50 mph, according to data from Boat International.

A data sheet about Atlantis says the vessel is in the top 5 percent by speed in the world.

After Saturday’s rescue, a hazard to navigation was broadcast to alert mariners of the yacht, which could cause damage to other vessels, according to the Coast Guard.

The owner of the Atlantis will arrange for a salvage of the vessel, the Coast Guard said.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.

Mike Lynch's yacht was state-of-the-art and shouldn't have sunk so easily, search-and-rescue expert says

• The tech tycoon Mike Lynch died in a yacht sinking near Palermo, Italy.
• An investigation is underway, with experts questioning how the state-of-the-art yacht sank.
• One expert said the $40 million yacht should have been "unsinkable."

A search-and-rescue expert said the superyacht disaster that killed Mike Lynch was difficult to comprehend — because the vessel never should have sunk.

Lynch, a British tech tycoon, was celebrating his fraud acquittal with friends and family when the 183-foot ship sank during stormy weather near Palermo, Italy.

Of the 22 people on board, six people, including Lynch, have been confirmed dead.

Fifteen people, including Lynch's wife, were rescued. Lynch's 18-year-old daughter remained unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon local time.

An investigation into the cause of the tragedy is underway.

'Unsinkable'

Matthew Schanck is a maritime search-and-rescue consultant with 14 years of experience. He told Business Insider that his reaction to the sinking was "disbelief."

When the news of the sinking broke, Schanck said he envisioned a far smaller ship — "some sort of 40-foot yacht with a couple on board."

"That wouldn't have been as unusual or extraordinary," he said.

"It was really shocking," he added. "But what's more shocking is the fact that it's a modern, state-of-the-art superyacht, which would have been commercially certified and regulated by the Maritime Coastguard Agency."

Schanck previously told BI there was no indication that the ship breached "any international maritime construction or safety standards."

Related stories

The superyacht was worth $40 million, The New York Times reported .

Giovanni Costantino is the CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which built the yacht. Speaking with Sky News, Costantino said the sinking sounded "like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact."

"Sailing ships, it is well known, are the safest in the most absolute sense," he said. They tend, he said, to be "unsinkable."

Though the cause of the sinking has not been established, authorities confirmed a strong storm had been in the area.

Witnesses told BBC News they saw a waterspout — an uncommon tornadolike column of wind and water — before the ship went down.

"This tends to have been the accepted theory, that the vessel was hit by a waterspout and the crew didn't see it coming because it was nighttime and dark," Schanck said.

He said that while this scenario made sense, it's not clear how witnesses would have noticed a waterspout if the crew didn't.

Speaking with the Times, Costantino said the ship had the second-tallest aluminum mast in the world, which made it safe and secure.

However, he said that if any of the doors had been open during the storm, it could have taken on water more easily.

Correction: August 22, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the surname of the search-and-rescue consultant. It's Schanck, not Schank.

• Main content

Watch: 129-Foot Luxury Superyacht Worth Millions Sinks Off Italian Coast

The Italian Coast Guard shared a video of the 15-year-old luxury yacht's final moments before it pitched forward and sank into the sea. Authorities are investigating the cause.

t's not clear who owns My Saga, which sails under the Cayman Islands flag.

A 39.4-meter (129-foot) superyacht valued at $7.8 million capsized and plunged into the Ionian Sea this weekend, with the Italian Coast Guard springing into action to rescue all nine people on board.

The vessel, My Saga, was motoring through the Gulf of Squillace on Saturday evening when the coast guard responded to a call from the crew that the boat's stern was filling up with water. It dispatched a ship to the yacht, which was located nine nautical miles off the coast, to rescue its four passengers and a member of the crew, according to Italy's wire service ANSA.

They returned the next morning with a tugboat to haul My Saga to shore and pick up the captain and the three remaining crew members, by which point sea conditions were turning rougher and the yacht was listing sharply. It sank in the early afternoon.

It's not clear who owns My Saga, which sails under the Cayman Islands flag. It was built by Italian shipmaker Cantieri San Marco and designed by popular British superyacht designer Tim Heywood. The vessel, which had a teak deck and could accommodate up to 12 passengers, was one of only 1,068 motor yachts in the 35- to 40-meter size range, according to Boat International.

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Nei giorni scorsi, la #GuardiaCostiera di #Crotone ha coordinato operazioni di salvataggio di passeggeri ed equipaggio di uno yacht di 40m, affondato a 9 miglia al largo di #CatanzaroMarina . Avviata inchiesta amministrativa per individuarne le cause. #SAR #AlServizioDegliAltri pic.twitter.com/kezuiivqsM — Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) August 22, 2022

The scale of the accident is rare in the boating world, said Rory Jackson, head of superyachts at VesselsValue.

"If the highest levels of safety are adhered to and procedures followed properly, they should occur even less frequently," he said. "There will now be a period of investigation to ascertain exactly what occurred and why. We can all be thankful that the crew escaped unharmed." 

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Video captures 130-foot superyacht sinking off southern coast of Italy

A superyacht sank off the southern coast of Italy over the weekend of Aug. 20 in a spectacular capsizing captured on video and shared on Twitter by the Italian coast guard.

The video compilation shows the My Saga , a roughly 130-foot boat, struggling against the waves before slowly sinking into the water.

The yacht was sailing from the town of Gallipoli to Milazzo, Sicily, on Aug. 20, local news outlets reported, when it began to take on water and eventually sank some hours later about nine nautical miles off the port of Catanzaro.

All crew members and passengers were rescued and uninjured, the coast guard said on Twitter. It said it launched an investigation to determine what happened.

Nei giorni scorsi, la #GuardiaCostiera di #Crotone ha coordinato operazioni di salvataggio di passeggeri ed equipaggio di uno yacht di 40m, affondato a 9 miglia al largo di #CatanzaroMarina . Avviata inchiesta amministrativa per individuarne le cause. #SAR #AlServizioDegliAltri pic.twitter.com/kezuiivqsM — Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) August 22, 2022

The My Saga first reported a problem on Aug. 20 after setting sail from Gallipoli , on Italy’s southeastern peninsula, according to the country’s National Associated Press Agency (ANSA). Patrol boats from the Italian coast guard in Crotone and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) were dispatched to the scene.

They found the ship taking on water from its stern. Five people — four passengers and a member of the crew — were initially rescued on a Romanian patrol boat acting on behalf of Frontex. They were then transferred to the coast guard boat and taken to Catanzaro.

According to an Italian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation, the My Saga flew a Cayman Islands flag and was owned by a Danish company. The group on board when the boat took on water included six Italian nationals, two Danish citizens and a South African national, the person said.

The owner contracted a towing company to attempt to rescue the ship, according to the official. A tugboat, the Alessandro Second, arrived and took the four remaining crew members — including the captain — onboard before beginning to tow the ship toward Crotone. But bad weather made the process difficult, as did the position of the yacht, which was tilted into the water.

Eventually, the tugboat abandoned the yacht, and it sank into the Gulf of Squillace. The coast guard took the remaining crew members to Catanzaro.

It’s not the first time a sinking yacht has captured attention on the internet. In May, rapper Cardi B posted footage on social media of a yacht sinking near her hotel while she was on vacation in an unknown location. The artist could be heard screaming as she asked whether there wasn’t a “big boat that could save it.” Eventually, she said “bye-bye” as it disappeared into the water. She later clarified that no one was onboard .

I can’t believe I’m actually watching a yacht sink pic.twitter.com/dLL3ZJJv9R — Cardi B (@iamcardib) May 28, 2022

The same month, passersby watched as another multimillion-dollar yacht, the Rendezvous, sank in Torquay Harbor, a marina in southwestern England, after a fire broke out onboard. Authorities warned of potential air and water pollution because the yacht carried about nine metric tons of diesel.

And earlier this month, the 145-foot Aria SF caught fire off the Balearic island of Formentera in Spain in an incident that was also captured on camera and shared widely on social media. Those onboard were evacuated, and no one was hurt, the Guardian reported . The roughly $23 million yacht had reportedly just been delivered to its owner.

Chico Harlan contributed to this report.

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How sinking of luxury yacht off Sicily unfolded

One man has died and six people are missing after a luxury yacht sank in freak weather conditions off the coast of Sicily.

The 56m British-flagged Bayesian was carrying 22 people - 12 passengers and 10 crew - when a heavy storm that created waterspouts over the water struck early on Monday.

Fifteen people were rescued and a search operation for those unaccounted for - who include the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch - is ongoing.

Here is what we know about the tragedy so far, and how it unfolded.

LIVE UPDATES - British tech tycoon Mike Lynch among missing after yacht sinks

What happened to the yacht?

The Bayesian was struck by a sudden and powerful storm in the early hours of Monday morning, witnesses say.

It was reportedly anchored to the sea bed outside the harbour at Porticello, a small fishing village to the east of Palermo, when what the Italian coastguard described as a "violent storm" hit.

The storm was so fierce that it caused waterspouts, or rotating columns of air and mist, to appear over the sea.

Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa that the Bayesian’s anchor was down when the storm struck, causing the 72m (236ft) aluminium mast to break in half and the ship to lose its balance and sink.

It disappeared beneath the water at about 05:00 local time (04:00 BST).

Karsten Borner, captain of a nearby boat, said after the storm had passed, the crew noticed the yacht that had been behind them had disappeared.

"We saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position, and we found this life raft drifting," he told Reuters.

His crew took on board some survivors, including three who were seriously injured.

Another witness, Fabio Cefalù, captain of a trawler, said he was about to go out on a fishing trip when he saw flashes of lightning so he stayed in the harbour.

"At about 4:15am we saw a flare in the sea," he said, according to the EVN news agency reports.

"We waited for this waterspout to pass. After 10 minutes we went out to the sea and we saw cushions and all the rest of the boat [that had sunk], and everything which was on the deck, at sea. However, we did not see any people in the sea.”

Another fisherman described seeing the yacht "sinking with my own eyes".

Speaking to the newspaper Giornale di Sicilia, the witness said he was at home when the tornado hit.

"Then I saw the boat, it had only one mast, it was very big," he said.

Shortly afterwards he went down to the Santa Nicolicchia bay in Porticello to get a better look at what was happening.

He added: "The boat was still floating, then all of a sudden it disappeared. I saw it sinking with my own eyes."

One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Golunski, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica how she held up her one-year-old daughter Sofia to stop her from drowning.

She said the two of them and her partner James survived only because they were up on deck when the yacht sank.

They were woken by “thunder, lightning and waves that made our boat dance”, and it felt like "the end of the world" before they were thrown into the water.

Charlotte said: "For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves."

She added: "I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.

"It was all dark. In the water I couldn't keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others."

Who was on board?

There were 22 people on board when the storm hit, including 12 passengers and 10 crew.

One body has been recovered. It has not been formally identified, but the Palermo coastguard said it was the ship's cook. His nationality has not been confirmed.

Among the six people still missing is 59-year-old tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, known by some as the "British Bill Gates".

Mr Lynch founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was made an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006.

In June, he was cleared of conducting a massive fraud relating to an 11 billion dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.

Afterwards, he told the BBC in an interview he had been able to prove his innocence only because he had the wealth to pay the enormous legal fees required.

Sicily's civil protection agency also confirmed to the BBC that Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are among those missing.

La Repubblica reports that the six missing include four British nationals and two Americans.

Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares is among the 15 people to have been rescued, with eight of those receiving treatment in hospital, the Italian coastguard said.

Charlotte Golunski, her husband and daughter Sofia were also rescued and were unharmed, but taken to hospital for check-ups.

She said they had been on the yacht with a group of colleagues.

The daily Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported the vessel had mostly British passengers on board, but also people from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland and British-French citizens.

A doctor based in Palermo said the "very tired" survivors were "constantly asking about the missing people".

Dr Domenico Cipolla told Reuters one woman he treated described the trip as a "corporate holiday", with some of those on board "very young".

"There were a lot of work colleagues, friends, a few husbands, wives, or a couple of friends who had joined in," he adds.

What is the latest with the search?

Six passengers remain missing and the Palermo coastguard says the search and rescue operation is continuing "incessantly".

Police divers have identified a wreckage about 50 metres below the surface.

On Monday, four patrol boats, a helicopter and a team of divers were involved in the search. A naval and underwater team from the Palermo fire brigade also joined.

Footage from the wreckage site showed helicopters circling over several coastguard vessels as divers wearing bright orange descended into the water.

Francesco Venuto, a spokesperson for Sicily's civil protection agency, told the BBC on Monday rescue teams fear the bodies of those missing "must be" in the boat.

"We've been searching all day with helicopters and boats, we've found nothing. That wouldn't make sense, in this conditions we should have found something by now," he added.

On Monday, the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch sent a team of four investigators to carry out a preliminary assessment of the Bayesian's sinking, the BBC understands.

The director general of Sicily's civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, said the rescue operation would recommence at 06:30 local time (05:30 BST) on Tuesday.

A specialist caving search and rescue diving team arrived from Rome on Monday, hoping to "achieve results" either during the night or by Tuesday morning at the latest, he said.

What is a waterspout and why do they form?

A waterspout is similar to a tornado and can form over oceans, seas or large lakes.

The western half of the Mediterranean has experienced severe storms since the middle of last week.

Through Sunday night and into Monday morning, a clutch of bad weather passed by the north coast of Sicily.

BBC Weather forecaster Matt Taylor said: "A waterspout is a tornado that has occurred over water rather than land.

"They can form during intense storms, on the base of cumulonimbus/thunder clouds.

"Turbulence, and the wind blowing in slightly different directions around the cloud, can cause rotation under the base of the cloud and the spout to form.

"Like tornadoes, they bring powerful winds, but instead of picking up dust and debris they cause a water mist around the column of rotating air."

What is the Bayesian, and who owns it?

The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites, and is listed for rent for up to 195,000 euros (£166,000 ) a week.

She was built in 2008 by Italian company Perini Navi.

The Bayesian's registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd, which is based on the Isle of Man.

The yacht's name is understood to derive from the Bayesian theory, which Mr Lynch's PhD thesis and the software that made his fortune was based on.

Mr Lynch's wife Ms Bacares is named as the sole legal owner of Revtom, which is registered in the Isle of Man.

The Bayesian completed a number of sailings in recent days, calling at various ports in Sicily, according to ship-tracking website VesselFinder.

A spokesperson for Camper and Nicholsons International, the firm that manages the 2008-built boat, told BBC Verify: "Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew."

'For two seconds I lost my baby in the sea' - Sicily yacht survivor

Who is British tech tycoon Mike Lynch?

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Mike Lynch yacht sinking latest: Five bodies found in same cabin as manslaughter investigation launched

Ambrogio cartosio, public prosecutor of nearby town termini imerese, said they are conducting an investigation against unknown persons, article bookmarked.

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A manslaughter investigation has been launched over the deaths of seven people following the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily .

British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those who died after the Bayesian superyacht sank near Porticello at about 5am local time on Monday.

Five of the bodies onboard the sunken yacht were found in a single cabin which “was not theirs”, prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano revealed at a press conference in nearby town Termini Imerese on Saturday.

He told journalists the Italian Air Force had said the sinking was most likely caused by a downburst a localised, powerful wind that descended from a thunderstorm and spread out rapidly upon hitting the ground.

Ambrogio Cartosio, chief prosecutor of Termini Imeres, said officials will examine whether the captain, crew, individuals in charge of supervision, the ship-builder, or others could bear responsibility over the deaths.

Meanwhile, more tributes have come in for those who died, including for Mr Lynch’s daughter Hannah. Chief stewardess of the Bayesian, Sasha Murray, described the teenager as a “diamond in the sea of stars”.

Hannah’s sister, Esme, said she was “the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister”.

Prosecutor says likely Bayesian victims tried to escape sinking superyacht

According to the Telegraph, Raffaele Cammarano, one of two prosecutors leading the case, told a press conference earlier: “There can be no certainty about the behaviour of the passengers on board, at the moment.

“It is probable they tried to escape but we have no real details about that, that will emerge in the course of the inquiry.”

Manslaughter investigation launched after Mike Lynch’s Bayesian superyacht sinks

A manslaughter investigation has been launched following the death of seven people onboard the Bayesian superyacht which sank off the coast of Sicily .

Italian public prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, from nearby town Termini Imerese, said his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter and negligent shipwreck . No specific suspects have been named.

British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those who died after the yacht sank near Porticello around 5am local time on Monday.

My colleague Jabed Ahmed reports:

British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among seven people that died after the yacht sank

Tribute to ‘genius’ storyteller Mike Lynch

Susannah Gurdun, a close family friend of the Lynch’s from Suffolk, shared a series of heartfelt stories about Mike Lynch and who he was beyond being one of Britain’s biggest tech moguls.

Ms Gurdun told of his “thrilling ability” to explain difficult and complicated concepts in a way people could easily understand.

His wife, Angela Bacares, and his daughters were telling Ms Gurdun of his ability to “conjure beautiful stories out of thin air”.

The following evening, Mr Lynch told a story as the dinner plates were cleared about a hero, who was the same age as Ms Gurdun’s son, embarking on adventures in search of treasure.

She called it “magical”.

She added that she was not surprised to learn that Hannah had begun showing “serious literary promise”.

“It is beyond tragic that we will never know where her own particular brilliance might have led… but I still feel blessed to have shared that time with them in Spain,” she said.

“Not just because I witnessed Mike’s incredible storytelling; but because I was given a chance of understanding what that moment said about all four of them as a united vibrant loving family.

“To those of us who knew him in that way, this family achievement – in partnership with Angela – was every bit as special and beautiful as the ones he pulled off in the world of tech and science.

“Perhaps even more so – in that he did it all simultaneously.

“He was an extraordinary human being and it was – truly – a privilege to have known him.”

Tragic Hannah said she would save parents if they ever got in trouble swimming

The chief stewardess of the tragic Beysian superyacht, has paid tribute to Hannah Lynch, 18, after her body was recovered from the wreck.

Sasha Murray, released a statement, saying: “Those who knew her will know that Hannah was a diamond in a sea of stars. Bright, beautiful and always shining.

“What most people may not have seen was the extraordinarily strong, deep and loving relationship she shared with her parents, whom she adored more than anything.

“While swimming with them she often said, if anything ever happened she would save them. I have no doubt that the Irish, Latina fire that burns in her soul kept that spirited determination alive.”

Timeline of the Bayesian luxury yacht disaster in Sicily: Monday 19 - Wednesday 21 August

Monday 19 August

The Bayesian yacht, flying a British flag, sinks at around 5am local time when the area was hit by a tornado.

Fifteen people are rescued from the 55m (180ft) vessel – including a mother and baby – but another seven remain missing.

A body, believed to be that of a chef on the boat, is later found near the wreck.

Tuesday 20 August

The search continues for the six tourists missing.

It is reported that among those missing are Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

Police divers try to reach the hull of the ship, resting at a depth of 50 metres.

Italy’s fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco say early inspections of the wreck were “unsuccessful” because of limited access to the bridge and furniture obstructing passages.

Wednesday 21 August

The search for the six people unaccounted for enters a third day, with crews carrying out inspections of the yacht’s internal hull.

A team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) arrive in Porticello to look at the site of the sinking.

Five bodies are found inside the yacht on Wednesday afternoon. Only four of them are brought to shore.

Body bags are seen being taken to the port of Porticello in the afternoon where dozens of emergency services staff wait.

Watch: Final moments of seven who died in Bayesian tragedy revealed by fire service boss

Final moments of seven who died in Bayesian tragedy revealed by fire service boss

The final moments of the seven people who died in the Bayesian tragedy have been revealed by a fire brigade chief. British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among the seven people who died after the Bayesian superyacht sank near Porticello at about 5am local time on Monday (19 August). A manslaughter investigation has now been launched. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday (24 August), the fire brigade chief of Palermo, Bentivoglio Fiandra explained more about what is believed to have happened on board. Mr Fiandra said: “The Bayesian sank stern-first and then rolled onto its right side. “As a result, the victims tried to move on the left side of the boat, where the last air pockets remained.”

How long will it take to recover the sailing vessel?

Mr Macauda could not confirm how long it would take to retrieve the shipwreck of the sunken yacht.

“Everything depends on the availability of the owners and the timeframe of the retrieval of the wreck and of course all that has to be submitted to the port authorities and in parallel of course there will be the inquiry results and it’s only really then that we will be able to authorise the operation,” he said, according to a BBC translation.

“I can’t say, like some experts who have already spoken on the subject, that it will be eight weeks.”

He made clear that the owners will bear the full cost of retrieval, although he could not estimate the figure.

Why were nearby vessels not similarly affected?

Another yacht, the Sir Robert BP, was about 150 to 200 metres from the Bayesian when extreme weather hit.

Its crew helped to rescue 15 people from the stricken vessel.

Italian officials said they would be looking at how the downburst could affect one vehicle and not other nearby vessels.

Why did the boat sink?

The vessel had been deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer – Italian shipyard Perini Navi.

The Bayesian was hit by a downburst, according to Mr Cammarano, which are powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm and spread out quickly once they hit the ground.

Officials will look into the safety equipment on the sunken vessel.

Mr Cammarano was asked about whether there is a black box and if the hatches were left open.

He said investigators do not have exact information about the black box and that the first phase of the inquiry will look into it.

Pictured: Bayesian superyacht

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Nightly news, americans among missing after luxury sailing yacht sinks off sicily.

The Italian Coast Guard said it is searching for six people, including Americans, who were aboard a luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily in a storm. The missing also included a British tech tycoon. Fifteen people were saved, including a 1-year-old child. NBC News' Steve Patterson reports.  Aug. 19, 2024

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What Is Known About the Sinking of a Luxury Yacht off the Coast of Sicily and Those Aboard

Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts are searching for six missing passengers and crew, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily

Salvatore Cavalli

Emergency services at the scene of the search for a missing boat, in Porticello, southern Italy, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. Rescue teams and divers returned to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht Tuesday to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull 50 meters (164-feet) underwater. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

PORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts were searching Tuesday for six missing passengers and crew, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily.

The sleek yacht, named the Bayesian, was carrying a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers when it suddenly sank near the Mediterranean island that is part of Italy at about 4 a.m. on Monday. One body has been recovered and 15 people survived.

Fire rescue officials have said the six believed to remain in the sailboat's hull will be considered missing until they are located in the wreckage.

Here's what we know so far about the sinking and those who were on board.

What happened?

Italian civil protection officials believe a sudden and fierce storm that battered the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday whipped up a waterspout in the exact spot where the 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian was moored.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht moored nearby, said he saw the Bayesian during the storm but when the wild weather passed it was gone and he saw only a red flare lighting the night sky, the Italian news agency ANSA and the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported.

Borner and one of his crew boarded their tender and found a lifeboat carrying 15 people, some of them injured. They took them aboard their yacht and alerted the coast guard.

Rescue authorities said the wreck was resting at a depth of 50 meters (163 feet) about a half mile offshore of the picturesque fishing village of Porticello.

Who was on board?

Among the missing is 59-year-old tech tycoon Mike Lynch , sometimes described as the British Bill Gates. Lynch was acquitted in June of all charges in a U.S. fraud trial linked to the $11 billion sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Lynch still faced a potentially huge bill stemming from a civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven’t been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

A Cambridge-educated mathematician, Lynch made his name running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was reportedly among the missing. His wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 other people survived.

Among others still missing Tuesday, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo’s wife, Neda. Morvillo was regarded as an elite defense lawyer and was also a federal prosecutor in New York after 9/11.

Also missing was Jonathan Bloomer, the non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy. He is the former head of the Autonomy audit committee and testified for the defense at Lynch’s trial.

Bloomer was also chair of the Hiscox Group, an insurer that does business on the Lloyd’s of London market.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event,” Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain said in a statement.

Among the survivors was Charlotte Golunski, who said she momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to grab her and hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, ANSA reported. The father, identified by ANSA as James Emslie, also survived.

The Dutch foreign ministry said a Dutch man survived. The ministry, citing privacy, did not release his identity.

One body was recovered on Monday, identified as the on-board chef.

What is the Bayesian?

The Bayesian was a luxury yacht built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Nav. It was known for its single 75-meter (246-feet) aluminum mast — one of the world’s tallest. Online charter sites listed it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $215,000) a week.

Its registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd., based on the Isle of Man, according to online maritime database Equasis. Lynch’s wife is listed as Revtom’s sole owner, according to corporate registration documents from the Isle of Man.

The yacht's name is an apparent reference to “Bayesian inference,” one of the two main approaches to statistical machine learning and the one that was used by Autonomy.

What is a waterspout?

Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water and can happen when a storm moves across warm water.

According to the U.S. National Ocean Service, there are two types of waterspouts — fair-weather and tornadic.

Tornadic waterspouts “have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning,” the service says on its website.

While scientists haven’t attributed the specific event to climate change, average monthly surface temperatures have been at record highs for months . Hotter air can hold more moisture, making heavier storms more likely.

Sicily has been baking under intense heat this summer , and the United Nations’ panel of climate change experts notes the Mediterranean Sea is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with warming rates roughly 20% higher than the global average.

How rare is it for a huge sailboat like this to capsize?

Experts say it is extraordinarily rare for a luxury sailboat of this size to capsize due to weather events.

“This just doesn’t happen. You know, boats sink because things like keels fall off, or they run aground and breach the hull ... whereas just from a weather angle, a boat that big being pushed over on its side is absolutely extraordinary,” said Skip Novak, a lifelong sailor who has taken part in multiple round the world yacht races and written books about sailing.

Novak said he believed that strong gusts likely pushed the yacht over 90 degrees to its side, and the vessel did not recover because of the weight of the huge mast and because it was anchored. He suggested that internal doors were likely not closed, and water quickly poured in to sink the vessel.

“When you’re at anchor, even if it’s blowing with a storm in the Mediterranean, you rarely shut the whole boat down because nobody expects something like this to happen," Novak told The Associated Press. “So if the boat wasn’t completely watertight at the deck, you’d have flooding going in. It would take a couple minutes and that would be it."

What happens next?

As the search for the missing continues, authorities already have begun trying to piece together exactly what happened.

Prosecutors from the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation, as is normal in such events even when no suspects are identified. To date, they have not commented publicly.

The British Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four of its inspectors were being deployed to Palermo.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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