Cambridge tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht, the ‘Bayesian’, fully raised above water
The superyacht in which seven people lost their lives, including Cambridge businessman Dr Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, has fully raised above water for first time since it sank in August last year.
The 56-metre (184ft) Bayesian was seen being held above the water by one of Europe’s most powerful sea cranes near the fishing town of Porticello, Sicily, on Saturday (21 June).
The yacht is no longer intact - its 72-metre (236ft) mast was cut off last week using a remote-controlled tool and rested on the seabed.
The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigators said in an interim report in May that the Bayesian, which was owned by Dr Lynch, was knocked over by “extreme wind” in the early hours of 19 August 2024 while moored near Porticello. The $40million yacht, with 22 people on board, was knocked to a 90-degree angle within 15 seconds at 4.06am local time and immediately flooded. Others who lost their lives along with Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, were international bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer. US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel, also died in the sinking.
The yacht, we now know, had a vulnerability to winds, but the owner and crew would not have known, the MAIB report said.
The MAIB had commissioned modelling from the University of Southampton to examine the stability of the yacht. The study indicated that - if the wind was blowing directly across the beam, or side, of the boat - wind speeds in excess of 73mph were sufficient to tip the boat over, but this information was not included in the onboard stability information book and "consequently, these vulnerabilities were also unknown to either the owner or the crew of Bayesian", the report found.
About 70 specialist personnel had been mobilised to Porticello from across Europe to work on the recovery operation, which began last month.
The vessel was originally expected to be raised last month, but salvage efforts were delayed after a diver died during underwater work on May 9, prompting greater use of remote-controlled equipment.
Marcus Cave of British firm TMC Marine, which is overseeing the salvage efforts, said: “This was a complex and precise lifting operation to recover Bayesian, and followed a step-by-step programme of salvage work.
“The salvage team has progressed in a systematic way that prioritised the safety of all working on site and minimised any potential impact on the environment.
“This care for personnel and for the environment will continue as Bayesian is transported into port tomorrow.”
Lifting bags will be used on the mast in a further operation expected to start on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The tycoon founded software giant Autonomy in Cambridge in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of carrying out a massive fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.