Yacht tragedy leaves Sicilian port reeling as divers search wreck

In the cloudy skies and on the choppy waters, the emergency operation is continuing here in Porticello, where a luxury yachting holiday turned to horror.

As a coastguard helicopter whirls overhead, divers are being despatched from the port, continuing their search for the six missing passengers of the Bayesian, which capsized before dawn on Monday and whose wreckage now lies some 50m (165ft) underwater on the seabed.

Luca Cari from Italy’s fire and rescue department said that, given the depth, divers were only allowed 10 minutes underwater before resurfacing, limiting their work.

Divers trained to work in small spaces have been flown in from Rome and Sardinia. Strong winds are making the conditions even harder.

The divers found no bodies on the bridge – the room in which the captain controlled the vessel – and have made it into the lounge, from where they are working to gain access to the rest of the yacht.

It’s expected that the six missing passengers will be trapped in the cabins, where they were likely sleeping when it capsized.

Among the missing are the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch along with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah; his lawyer, Mike Corvillo and his wife Neda; and the president of Morgan Stanley international Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy.

The body of the yacht’s chef has already been found. His identity is yet to be confirmed.

Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is among the 15 people rescued, when they scrambled into a life raft and set off a flare, that drew the attention of another boat captain.

The tragedy began on Sunday night with violent storms buffeting the boats here.

In the early hours of Monday, that prompted a waterspout – a tornado-like rotating column of cloud and water that engulfed the Bayesian. Witnesses say it snapped the 76m (249ft) tall aluminium mast and quickly engulfed it.

Recent searing heat and heavy winds had reportedly prompted a weather warning prior to the capsizing. The temperature of the Mediterranean was 30C – higher than normal - amplifying the likelihood of an extreme weather event.

Among the survivors are several British nationals, who are staying at a local hotel, to which journalists were denied access.

They include Charlotte Golunski, who clutched her one-year-old daughter above the water to keep her alive, telling how all she could hear were the screams around her.

The British ambassador to Italy, Ed Llewellyn, told me he had visited the survivors and heard their anguish.

“It underlines what a desperately sad and distressing situation they found themselves in,” he said.

“My heart, and I’m sure that of the whole country, goes out to them. We will do whatever we can practically to help in this very difficult and heartbreaking situation.”

He confirmed that marine investigators sent from the UK had arrived in Sicily and were working with their Italian counterparts on a preliminary assessment.

Local prosecutors have also opened an investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy – and if anything could have been done to mitigate it, including closing the ship’s hatches overnight.

The yacht’s captain, James Catfield, from New Zealand, told Italian media of the suddenness of the waterspout that turned a luxury super yacht into a death trap. “We just didn’t see it coming”, he said.