Divers Retrieve Two Bodies From Mike Lynch Yacht Sunk Off Sicily

(Bloomberg) -- Italian divers on Wednesday retrieved two bodies from a sunken yacht off Sicily, where British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and four others were feared to have died earlier this week.

Six people were likely trapped inside the Bayesian yacht when it was hit by a tornado near Porticello, Sicily, and were unable to escape, according to authorities. 

Divers have so far retrieved two bodies from the ship, according to an Italian official. 

Authorities are investigating how the luxury yacht sank in the early hours of Monday morning, with the captain and other survivors answering questions from the local prosecutor’s office, according to a report from Italian news agency ANSA.

“Right now there is no evidence that the mast has been snapped,” coast guard spokesman Vincenzo Zagarola told Bloomberg News on Wednesday. “We can also say that, so far, there is no evidence that the hull has been broken. But we don’t have a clear idea yet of the full damage.”

Crews aided by military ships, remote controlled underwater vehicles and helicopters have been searching for missing passengers since Monday when the Bayesian was struck by a tornado. Six guests, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, and nine crew have been rescued. The body of Recaldo Thomas, the ship’s chef, was found soon after the Bayesian sank. 

Lynch, 59, and his family were celebrating his recent acquittal from fraud charges with a small group of advisers when the violent storm struck. The charges stemmed from Lynch’s sale of his software firm Autonomy Corp. to Hewlett Packard Co. in 2011. The Silicon Valley giant went on to accuse Lynch of accounting failures. He’d spent years working to clear his name in court and restore his reputation as one of Europe’s most successful entrepreneurs. 

A little over two months before the yacht accident, a San Francisco jury found Lynch not guilty of criminal charges that he duped HP into overpaying for his company. He was still fighting HP in a civil case in London, where a British judge held him responsible for creating the illusion of a company much larger and more successful than it really was. 

Lynch and his daughter Hannah, Bloomer and his wife Judy and Clifford Chance partner Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda were identified as the missing passengers on Tuesday by authorities in Sicily.

Rescue workers have had difficulties gaining access to the yacht 48 meters below the surface, citing the depth and position of the vessel’s hull. 

“The search will go on as long as necessary,” Zagarola told Bloomberg. “For sure the whole hull will need to be inspected meter by meter.”

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch has sent inspectors for a preliminary assessment, according to a spokesperson for the Department for Transport. 

An investigation would involve speaking to crew, passengers and other witnesses and collecting physical and digital evidence, for example examining logbooks, crew qualifications and any voyage recorder data.

--With assistance from Olivia Solon.

(Updated with additional context throughout)

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