YACHT’S DEADLY FLAW
Astounding ‘vulnerability’ behind sinking of Brit billionaire Mike Lynch’s superyacht Bayesian revealed after 7 killed
Scroll down to read how the tragedy unfolded
A BOMBSHELL report has revealed the astonishing "vulnerability" of Mike Lynch's "unsinkable" Bayesian superyacht which led to its tragic demise.
After examining the sinking of the 180ft Bayesian off Sicily last year, investigators now say the ship was knocked over by “extreme wind” and could not recover.
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And they confirmed the vessel's critical weakness was that the ship was vulnerable to wind.
Brit tech tycoon Lynch, 59, and daughter Hannah, 18, were among seven killed in the disaster.
An interim report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said the yacht had a “vulnerability” to lighter winds but the owner and crew would not have known.
It added it had “limited verified evidence” as the criminal probe in Italy had restricted its access.
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Andrew Moll, chief inspector of marine accidents, said: "The findings indicate that the extreme wind experienced by Bayesian was sufficient to knock the yacht over.
"Further, once the yacht had heeled beyond an angle of 70° the situation was irrecoverable.
"The results will be refined as the investigation proceeds, and more information becomes available."
Five people were injured "either by falling or from things falling on them", while the deck hand was "thrown into the sea", a report said.
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Two guests used furniture drawers "as an improvised ladder" to escape their cabin.
The skipper instructed guests and crew on an area of the deck to "swim clear of the mast and boom as the vessel was sinking".
Survivors later made their way onto a life raft released from the Bayesian.
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They went on to be rescued on a small boat dispatched by yacht Sir Robert Baden Powell, which was also at anchor nearby.
A search was conducted of the accident site.
All the bodies of those who died were subsequently recovered by the local authorities.
It comes as the salvage operation for the superyacht has now officially begun.
Floating cranes, remote-controlled robots, and specialist divers amongst other marine experts are all helping to recovery the vessel.
A Hebo Lift 10 crane, thought to be one of the most powerful in Europe, arrived in Sicily on Saturday, May 3, from Rotterdam.
The yacht's 246ft aluminium mast - the second tallest in the world - will be cut to allow the hull to be brought to the surface more easily, said coast guard Captain Nicola Silvestri.
About ten steel cables will then be threaded underneath the yacht to create a harness to raise it from the seabed.
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From there the yacht will be hoisted to the surface in a complex procedure.
The Italian Coast Guard believe the operation could take between 20 and 25 days.
Inside the Bayesian's final 16 minutes
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
Data recovered from the Bayesian's Automatic Identification System (AIS) breaks down exactly how it sank in a painful minute-by-minute timeline.
At 3.50am on Monday August 19 the Bayesian began to shake "dangerously" during a fierce storm, Italian outlet revealed.
Just minutes later at 3.59am the boat's anchor gave way, with a source saying the data showed there was "no anchor left to hold".
After the ferocious weather ripped away the boat's mooring it was dragged some 358 metres through the water.
By 4am it had began to take on water and was plunged into a blackout, indicating that the waves had reached its generator or even engine room.
At 4.05am the Bayesian fully disappeared underneath the waves.
An emergency GPS signal was finally emitted at 4.06am to the coastguard station in Bari, a city nearby, alerting them that the vessel had sunk.
Early reports suggested the disaster struck around 5am local time off the coast of Porticello Harbour in Palermo, Sicily.
The new data pulled from the boat's AIS appears to suggest it happened an hour earlier at around 4am.
Some 15 of the 22 onboard were rescued, 11 of them scrambling onto an inflatable life raft that sprung up on the deck.
A smaller nearby boat - named Sir Robert Baden Powell - then helped take those people to shore.
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