By Ezekiel David
A violent storm off the coast of Sicily claimed the life of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and several others aboard the superyacht Bayesian.
The 59-year-old Lynch, known for founding software company Autonomy, was among a group of friends celebrating his recent acquittal in a U.S. fraud trial.
After running into bad weather close to Palermo, the 184-foot ship quickly sank. Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and four other people were initially missing, but 15 passengers and crew—including Lynch’s wife—managed to escape. Hannah is still unaccounted for, and in the days that followed, the bodies of Lynch and the other survivors were recovered from the wreck.
Given the size, current design, and claimed safety features of the Bayesian, the event has startled maritime experts. The boat was “one of the safest boats in the world” and “basically unsinkable,” according to Giovanni Costantino, CEO of Perini, an Italian boat builder.
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However, Costantino later suggested that a series of human errors, coupled with the anticipated storm, might have contributed to the sinking. “The ship sank because it took on water, from where investigators will have to say,” he stated.
Italian authorities are questioning the crew and survivors as part of a thorough inquiry into the incident. Strong winds caused the yacht to capsize in only 16 minutes, according to tracking system data. Perini has also been negatively impacted by the tragedy, as evidenced by the sharp decline in the company’s stock price.
As investigators try to put together what happened before the abrupt and tragic loss of the Bayesian and everyone on board, the search for Hannah Lynch goes on.
(Source: Reuters)