Sicily yacht sinking: missing Bayesian passengers, including tech tycoon Mike Lynch, feared dead

2.29pm BST

Lorenzo Tondo reporting from Porticello

The national director of Italy’s firefighting department divers, Giuseppe Petrone , told the Guardian that his team has managed to locate a breach in the sailboat’s hull and is working to open a passage to reach the cabins where they hope to find the bodies of the six missing individuals.

“We have finally located a breach,” Petrone says. “Our men are working to open it. We are hopeful.”

2.16pm BST

Yacht's missing six passengers feared dead, Italian coastguard says

The yacht’s six missing passengers are feared dead, as search efforts continue.

Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian coastguard told the PA news agency that “our search and rescue activity by sea and air has gone on for around 36 hours.”

“Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly,” he said, adding that “we suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat.”

Asked about the likelihood of them being alive, he replied: “Never say never, but reasonably the answer should be not.”

Updated at 2.30pm BST

1.33pm BST

A spokesperson for law firm Clifford Chance said it is “deeply saddened” by the sinking of superyacht Bayesian.

We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident.

Our thoughts are with our partner, Christopher Morvillo, and his wife, Neda, who are among the missing.

Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner thankfully survived the incident.

Our thoughts extend to the other passengers and crew and all those affected.

We have no further comment at this time. We, and the families, ask that their request for privacy is honoured during this period.

1.19pm BST

The British ambassador to Italy, Edward Llewellyn , told reporters he spoke with survivors.

“It’s a tragedy, I met with the 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.

“The investigations are being carried out by the Italian authorities, from the United Kingdom we have sent our officers, as always in cases like this,” the ambassador added.

1.15pm BST

Lorenzo Tondo in Bagheria

All fifteen survivors of the Bayesian yacht shipwreck are now at the Hotel Domina Zagarella in Bagheria.

At about 1 pm, one-year-old survivor Sophie arrived with her mother and father. The hotel is guarded outside by security personnel preventing access to journalists.

The survivors received a visit from the British ambassador to Italy this morning and are being supported by a team of psychologists.

The hotel is just a few metres from the coast. The survivors are awaiting news from the divers involved in the search, with helicopters flying overhead visible from the hotel balconies.

The latest dive conducted by firefighters appeared to have yielded no results thus far.

Updated at 1.18pm BST

12.52pm BST

Who is missing?

Six people are still missing following the sinking of the Bayesian. They include four British nationals and two Americans. A number of those people worked with Mike Lynch on his recent trial in the US, where he was acquitted of fraud.

Those who have been named are Mike Lynch , a British tech entrepreneur once regarded as the UK’s Bill Gates, and Hannah Lynch , his 18-year-old daughter. Chris Morvillo , a lawyer who represented Lynch during his 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 have also been named.

Among the 15 people rescued are nine members of the yacht’s crew. One man, the yacht’s chef, has died.

Updated at 1.59pm BST

12.42pm BST

What is a waterspout?

According to the US National Ocean Service, waterspouts are a whirling column of air and water mist. They fall into two categories: fair-weather waterspouts and ones found during oceanic tornadoes that form during storms.

Tornadic waterspouts, which develop downward in a thunderstorm, can either form over water or move from land to water and have the same characteristics as a land tornado. According to the NOS they are “often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning”. Fair-weather waterspouts, in contrast, usually form along the dark flat base of a line of developing cumulus clouds.

The waterspout that struck Lynch’s yacht appears to have been a tornadic waterspout, caused by one of the many storms that have swept through Italy in recent days, with floods and landslides causing severe damage in the north of the country after weeks of scorching heat.

What is the danger of being hit by a waterspout?

The energy from the winds in a waterspout can cause damage and injury, but the biggest risk involves a so-called knock-down, which can tear off a boat’s mast.

While yachts are generally more difficult to capsize than smaller dinghies, a knock-down occurs when the yacht is struck by wind or waves with sufficient force to push the mast parallel with the water. The most serious scenario occurs when the mast drops below the water line. Lynch’s yacht was fitted with a 75-metre mast, the world’s second-tallest.

Updated at 12.45pm BST

12.36pm BST

One of the earliest mentions of Mike Lynch in the pages of the Guardian was a piece in 1997 profiling the tech tycoon, who was a rare beast: an internet entrepreneur who was actually making money. Even more improbable, he was British.

At a time when the biggest players in the IT industry, mainly from the US, burned money as they grappled with how to profit from fledgling internet technology, Lynch, managing director of Autonomy , a Cambridge-based startup, designed systems that could make sense of the vast information available online, mimicking the thought processes of the human mind when searching.

Autonomy further cemented its success by realising the commercial opportunities of designing technology that gave online service providers an insight into their user’s search habits, allowing them to serve adverts to their specific interests.

The buzz created by Automy’s success led to an eye-catching increase in its valuation; the £10m it raised to start the company helped increase its valuation to £80m within 18 months. Lynch also had designs on a partial flotation of Autonomy on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Lynch told Ian Katz, then the Guardian’s internet editor, that despite Autonomy’s success, his US customers and rivals were puzzled by the firm’s rapid rise, adding: “I have actually heard the comment, ‘England, software? I thought you made bone china’.”

12.22pm BST

Diving teams attempt to access stern and say huge volume of water entered yacht in very short time during storm

Another operation is currently under way to search for the bodies of the six missing individuals. The team of 19 firefighters’ divers descend to the depths in groups of three and will attempt to create an opening at the stern from a window in the “living” area of the main deck to access the interior of the yacht.

The search is challenging due to the furniture that has been dislodged and is blocking access to the cabins. The divers will have to first inspect the side of the yacht resting on the seabed.

According to the rescuers a huge amount of water seems to have entered the yacht during the storm from the stern or bow in a very short time, causing the hull to pitch up and sink within minutes.

Updated at 12.31pm BST

12.15pm BST

Divers struggle to access yacht's cabins

Italian divers are struggling to access the cabins of the Bayesian, having started diving at 8am local time.

According to a post from Vigili del Fuoco , Italy’s fire and rescue service, underwater teams are yet to get inside the yacht and are now planning alternative ways to access the sunken boat.

Earlier Marco Tilotta, who is in charge of the firefighter divers from Palermo, said that the boat is positioned at 90 degrees. It is sitting 49 metres below the surface of the water.

11.40am BST

A team of psychologists from the Palermo Health Authority and the civil protection is providing assistance to the survivors who have been accommodated at the Domina Zagarella hotel.

Among them is Angela Bacares , the 57-year-old wife of Mike Lynch and mother of teenager Hannah Lynch , who are both missing.

Yesterday, Bacares received medical treatment at a hospital in Termini Imerese before being transferred to the Domina Hotel, visibly in shock and using a wheelchair.

11.32am BST

'They were in the wrong place at the wrong time': eyewitness describes how storm hit yacht

Lorenzo Tondo reporting from Porticello

Fabio Cefalù , 36, a fisher from Porticello, was one of the first to attempt providing assistance to the Bayesian.

“I arrived at the port at 3:30 for a fishing trip,” he told the Guardian. “But when we saw the first flashes of lightning, we decided to stop. At 3:55, a mini tornado arrived. The docks of the port diverted it and it hit the sailboat head-on. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Cefalù said that the whirlwind lasted about “10 minutes with strong winds and rain.”

“We saw a flare 500 meters from the dock,” he said, adding:

We went to see what had happened. We only saw the floating debris of the boat. We immediately called the Coast Guard.

The sea was terrible. The wind very strong. The storm destroyed my solar panels. The vessel was hit head-on. I thought I would find someone in the sea. But nothing. The boat had disappeared from the radar.

In my opinion, the missing passengers are still on board. They were caught in their sleep by the storm and didn’t have time to get out.

Updated at 11.53am BST

10.39am BST

'Within a few minutes, there was nothing left': captain of nearby boat describes Bayesian sinking

Karsten Borner , 69, the captain of a nearby sailboat that was right next to the Bayesian, said that the vessel carrying Mike Lynch and 21 other passengers sank within minutes.

“We were also awakened by the storm,” Karsten told The Guardian.

“The first thing I did was to start the engines of my sailboat to give more stability to the vessel. I don’t know if the Bayesian did the same. It seems like they were also suddenly caught by the storm,” he said.

“After securing our boat, we immediately approached the Bayesian. But it had already sunk. 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.

Updated at 10.40am BST

10.21am BST

A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley said the bank was “shocked and saddened” by news that non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer was among those missing, the PA news agency reported.

10.01am BST

The family of Stephen Chamberlain , co-defendant in the US trial of missing technology tycoon Mike Lynch , have described him as “a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend” following his death after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday, the PA news agency reported.

9.57am BST

'We have not yet entered the boat', firefighters chief says as search efforts continue

Lorenzo Tondo reporting from Porticello

Rescue efforts for the six missing persons from the shipwreck of the sailboat Bayesian, which sank yesterday morning off the coast of Porticello, resumed this morning.

The cave-diving and diving teams of Italy’s firefighters, who arrived from Rome, Sassari, and Cagliari yesterday, have just completed another dive.

Marco Tilotta , chief of the firefighters divers in Palermo leading the search, explains that there are numerous challenges in recovering the bodies, foremost being the depth of the vessel.

“We have just completed the latest dive to inspect the boat,” Tilotta told the Guardian.

He added:

The greatest challenge is the depth, which does not allow for immediate interventions. You have to consider that when we go underwater, we have 3 minutes to descend and 8 minutes to work on the wreck. Then we have to begin the ascent phase.

There is also the problem of accessing the vessel with all the belongings inside and the fact that the boat is positioned at 90 degrees.

We have not yet entered the boat. We plan to do so soon and inspect every inch of the vessel.

Tilotta said that besides one body found yesterday, no other bodies have been located.

Updated at 9.59am BST

9.32am BST

The boss of insurance group Hiscox, Aki Hussain , said he is “deeply shocked and saddened” as he confirmed the company’s non-executive chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer are among those missing, the PA news agency reported.

We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event.

Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation.

Bloomer is also chairman of Morgan Stanley International.

8.59am BST

The British government’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four inspectors had been sent to Sicily to conduct a “preliminary assessment,” Reuters reported.

One expert at the scene who declined to be named said an early focus of the investigation would be whether the yacht’s crew had had time to close access hatches into the vessel before the storm struck.

8.27am BST

Here are images from the search operation in Sicily.

7.38am BST

Here’s a map of the area where the yacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily early Monday.

7.27am BST

Fresh search underway for six missing people following superyacht sinking

Specialist Italian divers have launched a fresh search for six people missing since their yacht capsized off Sicily before dawn on Monday, AFP reported.

The yacht, the British-flagged Bayesian, had 22 people aboard including 10 crew.

Six people, including UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch, are still missing.

Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares was among 15 people rescued, but the businessman and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were missing, Salvo Cocina, head of the Civil Protection Agency in Sicily, told AFP.

Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are also missing.

A first search of the wreck some 50 metres below the sea surface failed.

“Access was limited only to the bridge, with difficulty due to the presence of furniture obstructing passage,” the firefighters said.