The sunken superyacht of a tech billionaire has been raised from the sea off the coast of Sicily
Autonomy founder Mike Lynch's 56m (184ft) yacht Bayesian was raised from the seabed off the coast of Sicily last Friday 20 June. The operation came ten months after the vessel sank in a sudden storm.
Here's What We Know
The superyacht Bayesian sank in less than a minute on 19 August 2024. Seven people died, including Mike Lynch himself and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Fifteen people survived, including Lynch's wife, whose company owns the $40 million ship, as well as the ship's captain.
Lynch had organised the cruise to celebrate his acquittal in June 2024 in a US court on 15 felony charges related to the $11 billion sale of one of his companies to Hewlett-Packard.
The Bayesian was scheduled to be raised over the weekend, but TMC Marine's salvage team said the process was quicker than expected.
In May, when the rescue operation had just begun, an underwater explosion killed one rescuer, prompting the company to replace most of its human divers with underwater robots. TMC Marine said this change in strategy led to accelerated progress on the operation to attach the lifting straps to the hull, which was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of the month.
The yacht was lifted out of the water by one of the most powerful floating cranes in Europe. Prior to the operation, the yacht was stabilised on the seabed, strapped down with eight steel slings and the mast removed. With 18,000 litres of fuel remaining on board at the time of the disaster, booms were placed around the site during the ascent.
The yacht is due to be delivered to the Sicilian port of Termini Imerse as early as Monday.
The vessel's captain James Cutfield and two crew members are currently under investigation. Investigators need to examine the vessel to determine exactly what caused the sinking - human error or a design flaw.
Source: CNN
