Search resumes for British tech magnate and 5 others after yacht sinks off Sicily

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Emergency services at the scene of the search for a missing boat Monday in Porticello Santa Flavia, Italy. / LaPresse

PORTICELLO, Sicily — Rescue teams and divers were returning to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht off Sicily on Tuesday to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull, 50 meters (164 feet) underwater.

Divers were loading a rescue dinghy at the port of Porticello, near Palermo, after a first search Monday ended unsuccessfully. Fire rescue crews reported that divers were unable to access the below-deck cabins because they were blocked by debris that had shifted during the violent storm that toppled the luxury sailboat early Monday.

Fifteen people survived, including a mother who reported holding her 1-year-old baby over the waves to save her. One body has been recovered, officials said.

“Access was limited to the bridge, due to the difficulty represented by the presence of furnishings obstructing the divers’ passage,” the fire crews said in a statement.

The search was made particularly difficult because the ship was resting on the seabed at a depth of 50 meters, which limits the amount of time divers can be underwater, said fire rescue spokesperson Luca Cari. As a result, the search is expected to take time, he told The Associated Press early Tuesday.

The 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian luxury yacht had been moored about a half-mile off Ponticello when a storm rolled in around 4 a.m. Monday. Civil protection officials said they believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, which had passed over the area.

Fifteen of the Bayesian’s 22 passengers and crew managed to escape, first onto a lifeboat and then by a nearby sailboat, the Sir Robert Baden Powell, that had also been moored offshore to ride out the storm, Karsten Borner, the captain of the Baden Powell, told reporters at the scene.

One body, belonging to the Bayesian’s chef, was recovered nearby.

Among those missing was Lynch, who was once hailed as Britain’s king of technology. He was cleared in June of fraud and conspiracy charges in a U.S. federal trial related to Hewlett Packard’s $11 billion takeover of his company, Autonomy Corp. His wife, Angela Bacares, survived.

The vacation appeared to be something of a celebration after Lynch's acquittal, with guests including some of the people who had stood by Lynch throughout the ordeal. Among those unaccounted for, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo’s wife. Also among the missing was Jonathan Bloomer, the former head of the Autonomy audit committee who testified at Lynch’s trial, and his wife.

Among the survivors was Charlotte Golunski, who said she momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, Italian news agency ANSA reported. The father, identified by ANSA as James Emslie, also survived.

The yacht, built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Navi, was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew. According to online charter companies, it has been available for charter for 195,000 euros (about $215,000) a week and is notable for its massive 75-meter tall aluminum mast, one of the tallest in the world.