a little serenity yacht sinks

• Join Our Newsletter
• Post a Listing
• Your Listings
• Your Profile
• Your Subscriptions
• Payment History
• Sign up for Daily Headlines
• Sign up for Notifications

Man dead after yacht sinking near Discovery Island

• Share by Email
• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share via Text Message

One of four people plucked from the ocean after a 40-foot yacht sank south of Discovery Island last Friday is dead, says the B.C. Coroners Service.

Spokesperson Ryan Panton said the coroners service is investigating the incident, which occurred about three nautical miles south of Discovery Island, east of Oak Bay, but could not reveal any additional details.

Three individuals and a dog in a 10-foot dinghy were located by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from Port Angeles, two hours after the initial mayday call was received by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre at around 6 p.m. from the pleasure craft.

A fourth person was spotted in the water by a CH-149 Cormorant at around 9 p.m., about one nautical mile from the dinghy in the middle of the yacht’s debris field.

The man, who was “found to be unresponsive upon arrival,” was recovered by a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter crew, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Clark, adding that all four were U.S. citizens.

Clark said the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was already airborne for scheduled operations and was diverted for the response.

Multiple sea and air units responded to the mayday call, including two aircraft based out of 19 Wing Comox — a CC-138 Hercules and a CH-149 Cormorant. Marine vessels deployed included the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Cape Calvert and 33 Oak Bay, a coast guard auxiliary vessel.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the dinghy contained two teenage girls and an adult woman who were all showing signs of hypothermia and were airlifted to Victoria General Hospital.

The dog was picked up by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel shortly after.

The yacht, named A Little Serenity, was registered in Kenmore, Washington, a suburb northeast of Seattle.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the sea at the time of the incident was swelling with five-foot waves and windspeeds were at 23 mph.

[email protected]

• See a typo/mistake?
• Have a story/tip?

This has been shared 0 times

More local news.

Featured Flyer

Man dead, woman and teens rescued after yacht sinks off Vancouver Island

One man is dead after a 12-metre yacht sank in the Strait of Juan de Fuca south of Victoria on Friday.

The British Columbia Coroners Service confirmed Wednesday it is investigating one death that resulted from the incident.

The United States Coast Guard rescued one woman and two teenage girls from a dinghy that was associated with the sinking vessel around 7 p.m.

A U.S. Coast Guard rescue helicopter from Port Angeles, Wash., was dispatched to the scene, approximately three kilometres south of Victoria.

The air crew found and hoisted the woman and teenagers into the aircraft and took them to Victoria General Hospital after they showed signs of hypothermia.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Clark says the sunken vessel was found nearby and identified as a 12-metre yacht named A Little Serenity.

The vessel is registered in Kenmore, Wash., northeast of Seattle, and all four people aboard were U.S. citizens, Clark said.

It is not known what caused the yacht to take on water and sink, nor what caused the death of the man on board.

The vessel had no prior contacts with the U.S. Coast Guard and was most recently certified by the agency on April 19, according to U.S. Coast Guard records.

"I can confirm that the B.C. Coroners Service was notified and is investigating one death resulting from this incident," Ryan Panton, spokesperson for the B.C. Coroners Service, said in a statement to CTV News.

"As we're very early in the process of trying to determine all of the facts, I have no additional information available at this time," the statement concluded.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it was first alerted to the vessel in distress by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria. The agency said the Canadian Coast Guard found the deceased male among the wreckage of the sunken boat and took him away on a Canadian rescue boat.

The Canadian Coast Guard declined to provide any details about the incident, instead referring questions to B.C. Emergency Health Services, which in turn referred questions to the B.C. Coroners Service.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the vessel went down in one-and-a-half-metre seas with winds reaching 37 km/h.

Top Stories

Downtown 'street chaos' final straw for Victoria business closing after 70 years

Death cap mushrooms appearing throughout Greater Victoria

London Drugs employee sentenced for stealing $2M in laptops, electronics from company

Artists invited to pitch designs for Vancouver FIFA World Cup host city poster

B.C. man sentenced for 'callous' indignity to remains of young man found dead in 2016

Here's when campfires will be allowed again on B.C.'s South Coast

B.C. caps rent increase at 3% for 2025, matching inflation rate

You can watch Tofino the otter pup on a live webcam

Ctvnews.ca top stories.

Immigration minister says upcoming changes to permanent resident levels 'not cosmetic,' but 'significant'

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the federal government is 'looking at a number of options' to re-evaluate permanent resident levels in Canada and says any upcoming changes will not be 'cosmetic' but 'significant.'

Woman found dead in suspected femicide in Ottawa's west end

A 47-year-old woman is dead after a suspected femicide inside a home in Ottawa's west end on Sunday evening.

'Buyers are firmly in the driver's seat': It's a good time to buy a cottage in Canada, experts say

As the weather cools down across Canada, so too is the cottage market, with real estate experts saying now is the time to purchase that cottage you've had your eyes on.

Conservatives pledge to force Tom Clark testimony on $9M NYC condo purchase

Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett says his party will move a motion to force testimony from Canada's representative in New York if he does not appear at a Tuesday committee study into the purchase of a $9-million condo in Manhattan.

Missing mom and daughter last seen in Nanton, Alta.: RCMP

Southern Alberta RCMP are searching for a missing mother and daughter.

A 34-year-old London Drugs employee has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing approximately $2 million in merchandise from the company over the course of five years.

Mariah Carey's mother and sister died on the same day. The singer says her 'heart is broken'

Mariah Carey's mother Patricia and sister Alison both died on the same day, the singer said Monday.

Liberal cabinet has 'tremendous confidence' in Prime Minister Trudeau despite polling

Members of the Liberal government cabinet say they have 'tremendous confidence' in Prime Minister Trudeau despite polling numbers and questions surrounding his leadership.

Park'N Fly data breach included personal information of 1M Canadian customers, company says

A popular airport parking service is warning approximately one million Canadian customers that their personal information may have been compromised in a widespread data breach last month.

Shopping Trends

The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.  Read about us.

Editor's Picks

If your kid needs a new backpack, here are a few of our favourites for elementary school students, 16 boring (but very useful) back-to-school supplies that cost less than $15, here are the running belts that should be on your radar, 15 of the best cutting boards you can find online right now, 14 practical household products on amazon canada that cost $30 (or less), the 5 best essential oil diffusers in canada, tested and reviewed, 21 brilliant gifts for those impossible-to-shop-for people on your list, 20 birthday gifts that won't disappoint, 14 of the best gifts for 10-year-olds you can get online right now, the revlon one-step volumizer has been a reviewer favourite for years — here's why, if you’re looking for a new eyebrow gel, here are 10 that reviewers swear by, 15 of the best hair products for split ends, according to reviewers, 22 amazon canada deals and discounts on back-to-school supplies, the best amazon canada deals on kitchen products this week, from lululemon to amazon canada: here are all the best sales, deals, and discounts you'll find online right now.

'She was evil': Former B.C. care aide sentenced for stealing from seniors

A former care aide who preyed on vulnerable Metro Vancouver seniors, stealing tens of thousands of dollars from them, has been handed a four-year prison term.

Crumbling road in Vancouver is in such a bad shape, it's considered the city's worst

Growing potholes on a popular shortcut for drivers in East Vancouver are so big and plentiful that neighbours often hear tires slam into their traps.

At Greggs Furniture & Upholstery they’ve been building and fixing furniture for 70 years. In a few weeks, they’re permanently closing the door to the Victoria retail store.

Commercial truck plunges off bridge in B.C. Interior, driver unaccounted for, RCMP say

The driver of a semi truck and trailer that plunged off of a bridge in the B.C. Interior Saturday morning has not been located, according to police.

Merritt, B.C., emergency room closing for 25 hours this weekend

The emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre in Merritt is once again closed due to limited physician availability.

Man charged with mischief for allegedly starting several fires Vernon, B.C.

A 33-year-old man is facing multiple charges for allegedly setting several fires in Vernon on Monday.

Federal move to lower temporary foreign worker numbers could be boon for young Albertans seeking jobs

Ottawa's announcement Monday that it will tighten restrictions to limit the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers in the country should be a boon for young Albertans looking for work, says an Edmonton-based economist.

New homeless shelter to open in Edmonton industrial area

Hope Mission is opening a new homeless shelter this fall, and it's not downtown.

Goldfish cull using controversial chemical to resume at west Edmonton storm pond

So long, chums: the chemical culling of goldfish is back on in a west Edmonton neighbourhood.

Calgary man allegedly sexually exploited several underage girls: police

A Calgary man is facing 24 charges related to sexual exploitation and child pornography.

Speed considered a factor in fatal Calgary motorcycle crash: police

Calgary police say speed is believed to be a factor in a deadly motorcycle crash in the city's deep south over the weekend.

Lethbridge Pride crosswalk defaced, Taber teen charged

Lethbridge police have charged a teen from Taber, Alta., with mischief after he allegedly damaged the city's Pride crosswalk.

Rocky Mountain coal hearings still scheduled despite top court allowing appeal

The Alberta Energy Regulator seems to be going ahead with hearings on coal exploration in the Rocky Mountains despite a court ruling that opened the question of whether those applications should have been accepted.

Powerful thunderstorms bring 165 km wind gusts, Toonie-sized hail to southwest Manitoba

New data shows the powerful might of a storm that wreaked havoc on parts of Manitoba over the weekend.

'I learned the hard way': Winnipeg senior warns of scam that nearly cost her close to $20K

A Winnipeg senior is warning others to be vigilant after someone tried to scam her out of nearly $20,000.

'I find them pretty aggressive': Wasp season is upon us as the end of summer nears

As we get closer to the end of summer and the temperatures cool down, some unwelcome pests might be seen buzzing around.

Young girl dies in collision with drunk driver: Sask. RCMP

A girl under the age of 12 has died after the RCMP says she and three other pedestrians were hit by a drunk driver in Key First Nation on Saturday.

New outreach campaign aiming to provide laundry services to those in need

Just over a month ago, Rally Around Homelessness launched their 'I Gotch You' campaign, which worked to provide new underwear to those in need. Now, the organization is taking the natural next step: helping people wash their clothes.

Regina police seeks tips after elderly woman injured in hit-and-run

The Regina Police Service (RPS) is asking the public for tips after an elderly woman on a mobility scooter was injured in a hit-and-run on Friday.

Sask. woman accused of murdering her husband makes first court appearance

A woman accused of killing her husband made her first court appearance on Monday.

'Flabbergasted': Some Mainstreet tenants say they weren’t informed about the data breach

A week after one of the largest rental property companies in western Canada revealed the extent of a data breach that happened three months prior, tenants are saying they've learned of the cybersecurity attack from CTV News, and not the company.

Saskatchewan's largest First Nation approves $600M 'cows and plows' settlement

Saskatchewan’s largest First Nation says it has approved a settlement agreement with the federal government valued at $601.5-million.

Toronto murder suspect arrested in the United Kingdom

A suspect wanted for first-degree murder in connection with the death of a 30-year-old man from Toronto has been located in the United Kingdom.

Police looking for video footage, witnesses to Vaughan Mills kidnapping attempt

Police say that several witnesses may have filmed an attempted kidnapping outside Vaughan Mills last week.

Toronto cop awaiting sentencing for stealing credit cards, luxury watch charged after trying to leave country

A long-time Toronto police officer who was found guilty of stealing credit cards and a luxury watch from deceased individuals is now facing additional charges for violating the terms of his release.

Quebec colleges adapting to new realities under updated French-language laws

Quebec college students are back in class and the 2024-2025 group will be the first to have to comply with all the requirements in the updated French-language law, and administrations are having to adapt to the new reality.

Montreal firefighters respond to partial building collapse in St-Henri

Montreal firefighters were called to the Saint-Henri neighbourhood Monday afternoon after a triplex partially collapsed.

Federal convenience store council ask that vaping products require a liquor licence in Quebec

The Convenience Industry Council of Canada (CICC) publicly called on the Quebec government to require all sales of vaping products to have a grocery-grade liquor licence.

Fraudsters posing as Amazon employees scam Gatineau, Que. victim for $12,000

A Gatineau, Que. resident has fallen victim to a phone scam that resulted in the loss of $12,000, but TD Bank has declined to reimburse the funds.

Possible bear attack at popular Halifax-area walking trail under investigation

The Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) is investigating a report of a possible bear attack in Eastern Passage, N.S.

Man receives 4-year sentence for bayonet manslaughter in Truro, N.S.

A man has received a four-year sentence for manslaughter in Truro, N.S.

Trudeau Liberals announce cuts to temporary foreign workers program

Starting in September, the Canadian government will begin cutting the number of low-wage, temporary foreign workers it will allow into the country.

London man flees ride program, causes $100,000 of damage to a residence

A 42-year-old London man is facing a slew of charges following a vehicle striking a residence in the city’s east end over the weekend that caused $100,000 in damages.

London police investigating fatal motorcycle crash

Around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, emergency crews were called to the area of Southdale Road West and Byronhills Drive for the crash between a vehicle and a motorcycle.

Provincial funds to replace sewage pipe beneath Forks of the Thames preventing more residential growth downtown

Speaking in London on Monday, Premier Doug Ford announced the funds that are expected to enable the construction of 17,576 new homes in the city.

Parent ‘blindsided’ by sudden removal from extended day child care program

Alissa Gooden said she got a confirmation email from Waterloo Region's extended child care program but, two weeks later, was told that it was a mistake.

Similar abduction attempts reported in Waterloo and Ayr

Waterloo Regional Police are investigating two attempted abductions over the weekend.

Protestors say they're 'unwilling' to go along with Wilmot farmland sale

A group protesting the sale of Wilmot farmland is bringing their fight directly to the township’s front door.

Northern Ontario

Police warn of new banking scam

Provincial police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre are raising awareness about new variations of banking scams.

Oldest bear at Cochrane, Ont., Polar Bear Habitat dies

Inukshuk, the 21-year-old polar bear at the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat, has died, officials announced Monday.

Sudbury councillor made false statements in attacking CAO over pay raises: report

Sudbury's integrity commissioner says Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbee should be suspended 20 days and apologize to Greater Sudbury CAO Ed Archer.

Newly reinstated Newfoundland cod fishery temporarily paused as landings hit limit

The federal government has temporarily paused parts of the newly reinstated commercial northern cod fishery off the east coast of Newfoundland as landings approach the seasonal limit.

As Newfoundlanders say goodbye to a daily print paper, some worry culture will suffer

The final edition of The Telegram newspaper’s daily print hit the stands in St. John's, N.L., on Saturday, marking the end of a 145-year run and a move to weekly print version with daily stories online.

Judge dismisses charge for N.L. officer accused of assaulting volatile air passenger

A Newfoundland and Labrador judge has dismissed an assault charge against an RCMP officer accused of using excessive force against a man whose volatile behaviour grounded an international flight last year.

Stay Connected

Monday, August 26, 2024 85° Today's Paper

One dead, six missing after luxury yacht sinks off Sicily

By Rosaura Bonfardino and Igor Petyx/ Reuters

Aug. 19, 2024

• Share on Facebook
• Share by email

VIGILI DEL FUOCO/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

Divers operate in the sea to search for the missing, including British entrepreneur Mike Lynch, after a luxury yacht sank off Sicily, Italy.

PALERMO, Sicily >> One man died and six people were missing after a luxury yacht was struck by an unexpectedly violent storm and sank off the Sicilian capital Palermo on Monday, the Italian coast guard said.

Among those missing was British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, a person familiar with the rescue operation said.

The 56-metre-long (184-ft) sailboat was identified as the British-registered Bayesian and sank with 22 people on board shortly before sunrise, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The missing people were of British, American and Canadian nationality, the Coast Guard said. The 15 people rescued included a one-year-old child.

“The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude,” a coast guard official in Palermo told Reuters.

Storms and heavy rainfall have swept down Italy in recent days – with floods and landslides causing major damage in the north of the country – after weeks of scorching heat.

Eight of those rescued were transferred to local hospitals. All were in stable condition, local media reported.

The captain of a nearby boat told Reuters that when the storm hit he turned the engine on to keep control of the vessel and avoid a collision with the Bayesian.

“We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone,” Karsten Borner told journalists.

The other boat “went flat on the water, and then down,” he added.

He said that his crew then found some of the survivors on a life raft – including three who were seriously injured and “a little baby and the wife of the owner” – and took them on board before the Coast Guard picked them up.

Entrepreneur Lynch, aged 59, was acquitted in June by a jury in San Francisco of fraud charges linked to the sale of his software company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011.

He said at the time that he was “elated” to be cleared in the criminal trial in which he denied any wrongdoing and blamed HP for botching the integration of the two companies.

DIVERS INSPECT WRECK

The coast guard said divers were inspecting the wreck, at a depth of 49 metres.

Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation to look into what had gone wrong.

The Bayesian was built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008 and was last refitted in 2020, and was managed by yachting company Camper & Nicholsons.

It won a string of awards for its design and can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites and a crew of 10, according to online specialist yacht sites.

Formerly known as Salute, or health in Italian, its 75-meter mast is the tallest aluminum mast in the world, Perini said on its website.

The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on Aug. 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “at anchor”, according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder.

A U.K. foreign ministry spokesperson said British officials were in contact with local authorities over the incident and were ready to provide consular support for Britons who were affected.

Subscriber Favorites

Hurricane gilma strengthens as it nears central pacific, hawaii automobile sales plunge as owners hang on to vehicles, t-bone crash sends four to the hospital, many east honolulu communities are at high fire risk, hawaii educators nominated for state teacher of the year, more world news.

Russia strikes Ukraine’s power grid in ‘most massive’ attack of war

Relief in Iceland as no more tourists trapped under ice

Italian prosecutor opens manslaughter probe in yacht sinking

Authorities: Suspect in German stabbing rampage is Syrian man

Egyptian sources: No agreement in Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo

Looking back.

Aug. 28, 2006: William F. Quinn, the state of Hawaii's first governor, dies at age 87

After yacht sinks, experts say Mediterranean growing more dangerous

By Antonella Cinelli and Gavin Jones

ROME (Reuters) - The shipwreck of a luxury yacht moored off the coast of Sicily is the latest sign that the Mediterranean is becoming a more dangerous sea to sail in, climate experts and skippers say.

One man died and six people are still missing, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, after the Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) sailboat, was hit by a ferocious storm on Monday, sinking in a matter of minutes.

Climatologists say global warming is making such violent and unexpected tempests more frequent in a sea used as a summer playground for millions of tourists, including a wealthy few sailing its waters on superyachts.

Luca Mercalli, president of Italy's meteorological society, said the sea surface temperature around Sicily in the days leading up to the shipwreck was about 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), almost three degrees more than normal.

"This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms," he told Reuters.

The changes in "Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea), as the ancient Romans called the Mediterranean, are also being noticed by experienced skippers such as Massimo Aramu, who runs the Akua sailing school on the coast near the Italian capital.

Currently sailing around Greece, Aramu said he did not like navigating Italy's Tyrrhenian coast around Sicily or the Spanish Balearic islands because there are "often critical situations with little warning".

Last week, a storm similar to the one that sank the Bayesian hit the Balearic archipelago, which includes the islands of Ibiza and Mallorca, leaving several yachts washed up ashore.

Giuliano Gallo, a former skipper who crossed the Atlantic and has written several books on sailing, said the Mediterranean was becoming more like the Caribbean, which has areas that many boats steer clear of at certain times of the year.

"But things are less predictable in the Mediterranean," he said.

Another sign of the more erratic weather in the Mediterranean was seen a year ago when thousands of people were killed in Libya by flash floods triggered by a so-called medicane - a supercharged Mediterranean storm fuelled by warmer seas.

Karsten Borner, the captain of a boat that was moored alongside the Bayesian but escaped harm, said Monday's storm had been "very violent, very intense, a lot of water and I think a turning system like a tornado".

He also blamed more frequent episodes of intense heat during the summer months for playing a role in causing such storms.

"The water is ... way too hot for the Mediterranean and this causes for sure heavy storms, like we had one week ago on the Balearics, like we had two years ago in Corsica and so on," he said.

(Additional reporting by Gavin Jones and Giselda Vagnoni; Writing by Gavin Jones; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Helen Popper)

Watch CBS News

Luxury yacht sinks off Sicily, leaving U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch, 2 Americans among those missing

By Anna Matranga

Updated on: August 20, 2024 / 7:47 PM EDT / CBS News

Rome  — Six people, including two U.S. nationals, a British technology entrepreneur and one of his daughters, were still missing Tuesday after a large luxury sailing yacht sank off the coast of the southern Italian island of Sicily during a violent storm. The 184-foot Bayesian had been anchored about half a mile off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, with 22 people on board — 10 crew members and 12 passengers.

The vessel sank at about 5 a.m. local time (11 p.m. Eastern, Sunday) after being hit by a possible waterspout spawned by the storm. Italian media said the winds snapped the boat's single mast, unbalancing the vessel and causing it to capsize.

Fifteen of those on board managed to escape the yacht and were rescued by a Dutch-flagged vessel that was anchored in the immediate vicinity. They were brought ashore by Italian Coast Guard and firefighters.

One body — an unidentified male — was recovered, but six people remained missing, including British software magnate Mike Lynch, once described as Britain's Bill Gates. 

Lynch was acquitted in June of fraud charges in the U.S. that could have landed him with a decades-long prison sentence. In an unusual twist, Lynch's co-defendant in that fraud case, who was also acquitted, died Saturday after being hit by a car while out jogging in England.

Lynch's teenage daughter Hannah was also among those missing, along with Lynch's American lawyer Chris Morvillo, a former assistant district attorney in New York, and his wife Neda. British banker Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, was also still missing Tuesday.

Among the survivors was a 1-year-old British girl who was being treated at a nearby hospital along with her parents. They were doing well, according to Italian media.

"For two seconds I lost my child to the sea, then I immediately was able to grab her again in the fury of the waves," the girl's mother, identified only as Charlotte, was quoted as saying by Italy's ANSA news agency. "I held on to her tightly in the stormy sea. Many were screaming. Luckily the life raft opened up and 11 of us managed to get aboard."

"It was terrible," she told ANSA. "In just a few minutes the boat was hit by a very strong wind, and sunk soon thereafter."

Karsten Borner, the captain of the Dutch vessel that came to the rescue, told ANSA he had been anchored near the Bayesian.

"When the storm was over we noticed that the ship behind us was gone, and then we saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position and we found this life raft drifting, and in the life raft was also a little baby and the wife of the owner."

Recovery efforts were back underway Tuesday, with speedboats, helicopters and divers continuing to search for the missing — as well as for answers, as to how a state-of-the-art superyacht could disappear in a flash. 

According to Italian media, Fire Brigade divers reached the boat and saw bodies trapped inside some of the cabins, but they had been unable to recover any of the victims from inside the vessel by Tuesday, due to obstructions. The Bayesian appeared to have sunk in an area with a depth of about 160 feet.

Witnesses said the boat sank quickly. 

"I was at home when the tornado hit," fisherman Pietro Asciutto told a local news outlet. "I immediately closed all the windows. Then I saw the boat, it had only one mast, it was very large. I suddenly saw it sink... The boat was still floating, then suddenly it disappeared. I saw it sink with my own eyes."

The director-general of Sicily's civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, confirmed to CBS News partner BBC News  that three of the six people still missing Monday were British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, whose company Autonomy Corporation PLC was acquired in 2011 by HP ; one of his daughters, Hannah Lynch, who is believed to be 18; and the boat's chef, Ricardo Thomas.

CBS News has seen corporate documentation showing a company called Revtom, solely owned by Lynch's wife Angela Bacares, who was among those rescued from the accident, as the owner of the yacht that capsized off Sicily. 

While the yacht was a privately owned pleasure boat, the waters around the island have claimed many lives over the last decade.

Dozens of migrants have died attempting to reach Sicily and smaller Italian islands in the region. Sicily sits only about 100 miles from the east coast of Tunisia in north Africa, and the Mediterranean crossing has been a frequent site of both nautical rescues and disasters as smugglers routinely send small boats overloaded with desperate people into the sea.

Alex Sundby , Joanne Stocker and Chris Livesay contributed to this report.

• Boat Accident

More from CBS News

Reuters journalist missing after hotel in Ukraine hit in Russian attack

Italian officials open manslaughter investigation into yacht sinking

Iceland police say 1 U.S. tourist dead, 1 injured in ice cave collapse

Japan scrambles fighter jets after China spy plane violates airspace

Divers find 5 bodies during search of superyacht wreckage after it sank off Sicily, 1 still missing

The bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) british-flagged yacht, went down in a storm early monday, by nicole winfield, danica kirka and andrea rosa | the associated press • published august 21, 2024 • updated on august 21, 2024 at 3:19 pm.

Divers searching the wreck of a superyacht  that sank off Sicily found the bodies of five passengers Wednesday and searched for one more as questions intensified about why the vessel sank so quickly when a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.

Rescue crews brought four body bags ashore into port at Porticello. Salvatore Cocina, head of the Sicily civil protection agency, said a fifth body had been located. Divers at the scene said they would try to recover it on Thursday while continuing the search for the sixth.

Streaming 24/7: Watch NBC 5 local news and weather for free wherever you are

Video shows moments before superyacht went down in storm off Sicily

Missing revealed as divers search superyacht that sank in storm off Sicily

The discovery made clear the operation to search the hull on the seabed 50 meters (164 feet) underwater had quickly turned into a recovery one, not a rescue, given the amount of time that had passed and with no signs of life emerging over three days of searching.

Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.

The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged yacht, went down in a storm  early Monday  as it was moored about a kilometer (a half-mile) offshore. Civil protection officials said they believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.

Fifteen people escaped in a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby sailboat. One body was recovered Monday — that of the ship’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, of Antigua.

Thomas was born in Canada, according to his cousin David Isaac, but would visit his parents’ homeland of Antigua as a child, moving permanently to the tiny eastern Caribbean island in his early 20s. Italian officials previously listed Antigua and Canada as the nationality of people on board.

The fate of six missing passengers had driven the search effort, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and associates who had successfully defended him in a recent U.S. federal fraud trial.

Lynch’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Meanwhile, investigators from the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office were acquiring evidence for their criminal investigation, which they opened immediately after the tragedy  even though no formal suspects have been publicly identified.

Questions have abounded about what caused the superyacht, built in 2008 by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, to sink so quickly, when the nearby Sir Robert Baden Powell sailboat was largely spared and managed to rescue the survivors.

Giovanni Costantino, head of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the shipmaker, blamed human error for the disaster, which he said took 16 minutes. “The ship sank because it took on water. From where, the investigators will say,” he told RAI state television after he met with prosecutors.

Costantino cited AIS ship tracking data which he said showed the Bayesian had taken on water for four minutes when a sudden gust of wind flipped it and it continued taking on water. The ship straightened up slightly and then went down, he said.

But was it merely the case of a freak waterspout that knocked the ship to its side and allowed water to pour in through open hatches? What was the position of the keel, which on a large sailboat like the Bayesian might have been retractable, to allow it to enter shallower ports?

“There’s a lot of uncertainty as to whether it had a lifting keel and whether it might have been up,” said Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects and the editor of the Journal of Sailing Technology. “But if it had, then that would reduce the amount of stability that the vessel had, and therefore made it easier for it to roll over on its side,” he said in an interview.

The captain of the sailboat that came to the Bayesian’s rescue said his craft had sustained minimal damage — the frame of a sun awning broke — even with winds that he estimated reached 12 on the Beaufort wind scale, which is the highest hurricane-strength force on the scale.

He said he had remained anchored with his engines running to try to maintain the ship’s position as the storm, which was forecast, rolled in.

“Another possibility is to heave anchor before the storm and to run downwind at open sea,” Karsten Bornersaid in a text message. But he said that might not have been a viable option for the Bayesian, given its trademark 75-meter (246-foot) tall mast.

“If there was a stability problem, caused by the extremely tall mast, it would not have been better at open sea,” he said.

Yachts like the Bayesian are required to have watertight, sub-compartments that are specifically designed to prevent a rapid, catastrophic sinking even when some parts fill with water.

“So for the vessel to sink, especially this fast, you are really looking at taking water on board very quickly, but also in a number of locations along the length of the vessel, which again indicates that it might have been rolled over on its side,” Souppez said.

Italian coast guard and fire rescue divers continued the underwater search in dangerous and time-consuming conditions. Because of the wreck’s depth, which requires special precautions, divers working in tag teams could only spend about 12 minutes at a time searching, though reinforcements outfitted with special equipment to enable longer dives were also on the wreck Wednesday.

In all, some 27 divers were taking rotations, including four who helped with the recovery of the 2012 Costa Concordia disaster off Tuscany. They called the Porticello wreck a “little Concordia,” fire crews said in a statement, which for the first time Wednesday referred to the operation as a “recovery.”

The limited dive time was designed in part to avoid decompression sickness, also known as the “bends,” which can occur when divers stay underwater for long periods and ascend too quickly, allowing nitrogen gas dissolved in the blood to form bubbles.

“The longer you stay, the slower your ascent has to be,” said Simon Rogerson, the editor of SCUBA magazine. He said the tight turnaround time suggested the operation's managers were trying to limit the risks and recovery time after each dive.

“It sounds like they’re operating essentially on no decompression or very tight decompression, or they’re being extremely conservative,” he said.

Additionally, the divers were working in extremely tight spaces, with debris floating around them, limited visibility and air tanks on their backs.

“We are trying to advance in tight spaces, but any single thing slows us down,” said Luca Cari, spokesman for the fire rescue service. “An electric panel could set us back for five hours. These aren’t normal conditions. We’re at the limit of possibility.”

“It’s not a question of entering the cabin to inspect it,” he added. “They’ve arrived at the level of the cabins, but it’s not like you can open the door.”

This article tagged under:

Potential manslaughter being investigated in superyacht sinking, Italian prosecutor says

Investigators plan to bring the shipwreck up from the seabed as part of the probe into the Bayesian's capsizing, the prosecutor told a news conference on Saturday.

Sunday 25 August 2024 08:40, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Investigators are considering potential manslaughter as they try to find out what caused the Bayesian superyacht to sink, killing seven people, an Italian prosecutor has said.

Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said "behaviours that were not perfectly in order" may have been behind the number of deaths off the coast of Sicily at a news conference on Saturday.

Investigators will focus on "the extent all the people [on board] were warned" of safety procedures, he said.

Responsibility could lie with "all members of the crew... the manufacturers... [or those who were] not surveying or supervising the ship".

But all lines of inquiry are being considered, including the role of the extreme weather that struck the area, he added.

Bodies found inside two cabins

Firefighter Bentivoglio Fiandra revealed that when the emergency call came in at 4.38am on 19 August, the yacht had already sunk and was on its right-hand side around 50m underwater.

As a result those who died "were trying to hide in the cabins on the left-hand side" of the vessel, he said. Alternatively, they could have been asleep, so failed to escape.

Tributes pour in for youngest victim; superyacht latest

Divers found the body of the on-board chef near the vessel first, he added.

Then, a rotating team of rescuers discovered five others inside the yacht - in the first cabin on the left-hand side - and the final one in the third on that side.

Investigators plan to retrieve the shipwreck from the seabed to be able to establish the circumstances in which the yacht capsized, the prosecutor said on Saturday, with the owners taking responsibility for the cost.

Details of distressing rescue mission revealed

News correspondent

For days we have been waiting to hear from those on the frontline of this rescue mission.

And today finally, we did. Speaking for an hour-and-a-half to the surprise of local journalists who couldn't believe what they were hearing alongside the world's press.

First-hand accounts of the gruelling, distressing and meticulous work that led to the discovery of the bodies of those missing on board the Bayesian.

Mr Cartosio said he had felt the need to conduct a press conference given the international interest in the event.

Flanking the head public prosecutor were representatives from the fire and rescue service and the members of the coastguard.

Some 11 highly specialised divers spent a total of 4,470 minutes underwater searching the vessels across five days.

By the end, there was little visibility in the water but they persevered and by lunchtime on Friday they had recovered the final missing person.

The discoveries of the bodies of all those onboard was difficult for divers despite their years of experience.

The foyer of the courthouse in Termini Imerese - a town just outside the Sicilian capital and some 10 miles from the scene of the tragedy - was packed.

Some 100 journalists on white plastic chairs scribbling away as details about the mission and the subsequent investigation were revealed for the first time.

The world's media heard the scope of the investigation was broad and that the aim of it was to find who is responsible.

Charges relating to shipwreck and manslaughter are being considered but nothing is being ruled out.

Read more Who was on superyacht that sank off Sicily? What we know about disaster

So far there is no indication it was anchored in a bad position, he added.

Water samples have been taken from near the wreckage and so far there is no evidence of dangerous hydrocarbons coming from the yacht, the news conference was told.

Autopsies not carried out yet

Autopsies have not yet been carried out on the victims, who were retrieved from the wreckage between Monday and Friday.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, was among the seven who died after the yacht got into difficulty and sank as little as 60 seconds in the early hours.

The others included Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, American lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda, and the yacht's on-board chef Reclado Thomas.

Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah was the final body divers recovered on Friday. Her mother and his wife Angela Bacares survived the disaster. Their other daughter Esme was not on board and paid tribute to her sister in a family-released statement.

The family is believed to have organised the trip to celebrate the end of Mr Lynch's legal troubles.

In July he was cleared of 15 US fraud charges in a case that lasted 12 years and focused on the sale of his company Autonomy to US firm Hewlett Packard in 2011.

Prosecutors claimed he deliberately overstated the value of the firm he founded in 1996. Mr Lynch always denied wrongdoing.

Related Topics

• Superyacht sinking

CAPE TOWN FOR CAPETONIANS

Update: Fifth body recovered from yacht wreck, confirmed death toll now six

Update, 22 August, 10:30am:

A fifth body has been retrieved from the wreckage of the yacht, as confirmed by the civil protection authority, Cape {town} Etc reports. 

This latest recovery brings the total number of confirmed fatalities to six, following the discovery of Chef Recaldo Thomas’s body on the day the yacht sank.

Early in the morning, just after 9:45am, a fire service boat with flashing blue lights returned to Porticello, carrying a blue body bag.

Among the survivors were two young South African hostesses who have recounted the terror they felt as they were caught in the fierce storm.

South Africans Leah Randall (20) and Katja Chicken (22) are currently staying at a hotel in Sicily alongside other survivors.

They were seen in the lobby of the Domina Zagarella hotel in Santa Flavia, which has also become a temporary base for police and rescue teams.

The hostesses expressed their disbelief at surviving, saying, ‘We are alive by a miracle.’

Their voices trembled with emotion, and they were unable to provide more details, still overwhelmed by the trauma of the event. One of them added, ‘It was terrible.’

The survivors did not share further information about their rescue.

Update, 21 August:

Specialist divers are still searching for six individuals who were aboard the luxury superyacht Bayesian, which capsized off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning.

The cause of the vessel’s sinking remains under investigation. Vessel tracking data indicates that the yacht departed from Milazzo on 14 August and was last recorded east of Palermo with its navigation status listed as at anchor.

Initial reports suggest that a tornado, or waterspout, may have struck the yacht, leading to its capsizing. Another theory is that water may have entered the boat through open hatches and doors, left ajar due to the warm weather along the Italian coast.

According to sailing expert Sam Jefferson, the open hatches could have allowed water to flood the yacht quickly, especially after the vessel was tipped over by strong winds. He notes that the mast, being very large, might have acted like a sail, exacerbating the boat’s tipping.

Witnesses observed a waterspout forming before the yacht’s sinking. Waterspouts, similar to tornadoes but over water, are short-lived and not easily detected by weather radars. The International Centre for Waterspout Research confirmed 18 waterspouts off Italy’s coast on 19 August. With rising sea temperatures due to climate change, such phenomena might become more frequent. The Mediterranean recently recorded its highest sea surface temperatures, fueling storms.

Bayesian, built by Perini in 2008 and last refitted in 2020, features a 75-metre (246-foot) mast, which may have contributed to the vessel’s instability. Captain Karsten Borner, who was nearby, reported a powerful hurricane gust and saw the yacht’s mast bend and snap.

Despite these reports, Palermo fire service diver Marco Tilotta confirmed that the yacht remains largely intact but on its side.

Matthew Schanck from the Maritime Search and Rescue Council noted that it’s difficult to confirm if the mast broke. He considers the incident a ‘freak event,’ emphasising that yachts are not designed to withstand tornadoes or waterspouts.

Since mid-June, sea temperatures around Sicily have been exceptionally high, with recent records indicating water temperatures exceeding 30°C (86°F). This extreme heat, attributed to climate change, has contributed to the unprecedented conditions in the Mediterranean. Scientists warn that the oceans, absorbing much of the excess heat, are warming more rapidly than expected, raising concerns about future climate impacts.

CCTV footage shows the final moments before the sinking of the yacht.

CCTV footage shows the moment a waterspout hits the Bayesian superyacht 📌 #Palermo | #Sicily #Bayesian #MikeLynch #JonathanBloomer #ChrisMorvillo pic.twitter.com/qYzzdd2nEh — DISASTER TRACKER (@DisasterTrackHQ) August 21, 2024

A luxury yacht sunk during a tornado caused by a freak storm off the coast of Sicily. A search and rescue operation is currently underway and reports have confirmed one fatality and six missing passengers, Cape {town} Etc  reports.

Of the wreck, 15 people have been rescued, with eight of those passengers being hospitalised.

Also read: NSRI assists sailing yacht following destructive storm

All eight were in stable condition, which included a one-year-old baby, according to 2oceansvibe .

The yacht, named the Bayesian , was caught in the storm when a tornado hit the area, located off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, at around 5am yesterday.

Reports indicate that the yacht’s passengers were tourists on holiday in Sicily, and it is feared that those missing may have been ‘trapped inside their cabins’.

A helicopter and coastguard ships have been sent to search the wreck above the surface as well as below. Divers already reached the hull, located 500 metres from the coast and 49 metres below the surface.

Divers saw ‘corpses through the portholes’ of the sunken ship as the body of a man was being recovered at a depth of around 50 metres.

The body recovered is believed to be that of Recaldo Thomas, the vessel’s Canadian chef, according to Sky News .

Based on nautical map information, the Bayesian was at anchor soon after 2am local time.

It has been theorised that the ship made a stop at Milazzo, around 160 kilometres up the coast in the direction of the Italian mainland, before it sailed on to Porticello.

Witnesses told the Italian news agency ANSA that the ship was still anchored close to the port when the tornado hit.

‘That boat was all lit up,’ a witness in Porticello told ANSA .

‘At around 4.30 in the morning it was gone. A beautiful boat where there had been a party. A normal holiday spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy […] The boat was not far from the port. It took very little to raise the anchor and head for the port. Evidently, they were surprised by the storm that suddenly hit and they were unable to avoid sinking,’ the witness added.

Among the missing passengers was tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who has regularly been described as ‘Britain’s Bill Gates’, according to NBC News .

Lynch (59) is the founder of the enterprise software firm Autonomy and became the target of a ‘protracted legal battle’ with Hewlett Packard after the US tech giant accused him of ‘inflating the company’s value’ in an $11 billion sale.

Extradited from Britain to the US last year to stand trial, Lynch was acquitted of fraud following a three-month trial.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter is also among the missing, BBC News reports, while other high profile passengers that remain missing are  Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at major firm Clifford Chance.

Lynch’s wife, Angela Baracas, was among the 14 other survivors.

‘They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ said Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency.

Cocina noted that another superyacht nearby wasn’t as badly damaged and helped rescue some of the 15 survivors. AP reported.

In a statement, Italy’s coast guard said that the 184-foot yacht sank ‘due to a violent storm’, off the coast of Palermo, at around 5am local time, with 22 people on board.

American, British and Canadian citizens were among those missing, the statement added.

Karsten Borner, the captain of the ship that rescued the survivors, told reporters that there was a ‘strong hurricane gust and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position’.

Borner added that they had seen the Bayesian behind them during the storm, and said that after the storm subsided, they ‘noticed that the ship behind us was gone,’ Borner added.

‘Fifteen people inside. Four people were injured, three heavily injured and we brought them to our ship,’ said Borner.

‘Then we communicated with the coast guard and after some time, the coast guard came and later picked up injured people,’ Borner added.

The UK-registered Bayesian , built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008, has an aluminium hull and can carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10.

The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on Wednesday, 14 August and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of ‘at anchor’.

Two sailors rescued, one presumed lost as yacht sinks en route to Cape Town

Picture: Gallo images

Article written by Jan-Hendrik De Villiers

CapeTownETC

Subscribe to our Newsletter cheap cars for sale cheap cars for sale in western cape cheap cars for sale in cape town Joburg news News in Johannesburg Bikes for sale

City in Siberian Federal District

Further information about the population structure:

• Omsk with places

Located in:

• Omsk Oblast

Russian Correspondent

Reflections on life and ministry by a pastor serving Lutheran congregations in the region.

19 October 2011

A wider vision of the church in siberia - synod assembly.

Synod assembly delegates and guests

No comments:

Post a Comment