The superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and six others, was probably knocked over by winds of more than 117 kilometres an hour, an interim UK report said on Thursday. The 56-metre-long (184-foot) Bayesian was moored off the small port of Porticello, near Palermo, in August last year when it was likely hit by a very strong downward wind, killing Lynch, his daughter Hannah and five others, Britain's Marine Accident Investigations Branch said.
The superyacht spent most of this summer in the Club de Mar, Palma, and Port Adriano in Mallorca. Furthermore, the Perini Navi sloop was refit in Mallorca in June 2016. And a crowdfunding site was set up in Palma to raise funds for the crew of the British-flagged Bayesian. The senior members of the crew are very well known on the island, in particular Canadian-Antiguan chef Recaldo Thomas who was one of the fatal victims.
The investigation established that, when the yacht's retractable keel was in the raised position, wind speeds in excess of 117km per hour on the beam were sufficient to knock Bayesian over. It said it was possible the yacht was similarly vulnerable to winds of lower speed. These vulnerabilities were not identified in the stability information book carried on board and were consequently unknown to either the owner or the crew of Bayesian.
"The findings indicate that the extreme wind experienced by Bayesian was sufficient to knock the yacht over," said Andrew Moll, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents. "Further, once the yacht had heeled beyond an angle of 70 degrees the situation was irrecoverable." The report said a sudden increase in the wind speed caused the yacht to keel over to 90 degrees in less than 15 seconds.
Water came in over the starboard rails and within seconds entered the vessel down the stairwells, it said. Around 18 minutes later the yacht sunk in the 50 metre-deep sea. The Bayesian was built in 2008 by Perini Navi, an Italian luxury yacht maker. It featured the world's tallest aluminium mast, measuring 72 metres (236 feet). Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini, said in August the yacht was "one of the safest boats in the world" and basically unsinkable. The company did not provide an immediate comment on the UK report.
An Italian investigation into the sinking is ongoing and the British investigators said circumstances could change after more evidence is released and the wreck was examined. The yacht remains on the seabed and a salvage operation is scheduled to resume after a diver was killed last Friday during preliminary operations to lift it. "Last week's tragedy affected all involved," said Marcus Cave, head of naval architecture and a director of TMC Marine. "However, everyone is still committed to complete this project."