6 Missing After Yacht Sinks in Sicily Presumed Dead as Sources Say Passengers Had Been Celebrating Before Storm

Mar. 15, 2025

(L-R) Mike Lynch, Christopher Morvillo, Jonathan Bloomer.Photo:Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty; Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty; Andy Shaw/Bloomberg via Getty

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty; Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty; Andy Shaw/Bloomberg via Getty

TheBayesian, a 183-foot vessel, capsized early on Monday, Aug. 19, while off the coast of Porticello, according to a statement from the Italian coast guard, previously obtained to PEOPLE.

A source close to the survivors tells PEOPLE the yacht had traveled from the Aeolian Islands tocelebrate the recent acquittalof British technology entrepreneurMike Lynch, who is among the missing.

Lynch recently went to trial, and won, after he was was accused of financial fraud in connection to the sale of Autonomy, a business software company Lynch founded, to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

“That’s why he took his closest friends and colleagues on the trip,” the source adds.

A coast guard vessel and a private sail boat assist the search for missing passengers after a yacht capsized on August 19, 2024 off the coast of Palermo, Italy.Vincenzo Pepe/Getty

Vincenzo Pepe/Getty

The other missing passengers include New York City-based lawyerChristopher Morvillo, who helped Lynch get acquitted, and his wife Neda, as well as Morgan Stanley International chairmanJonathan Bloomerand his wife.

Lynch’s daughter Hannah is also missing, although his wife, Angela Bacares, is one of the 15 passengers who were rescued in the aftermath of the tragedy.

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Italian emergency services headed out to sea towards the area off the Sicilian coast, where the search continues for British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, who are among six tourists missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images

Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images

TheBayesianstill appears to be intact as it lays on its right side in about 160 feet of water, according toReuters. Due to the depth, crews only have about 8 to 10 minutes to search before resurfacing.

A senior source at the Italian fire brigade which is in charge of the underwater rescue efforts tells PEOPLE that crews have “managed to get to the berth and to the living room, which was full of debris and cables.”

So far, they say teams have looked through portholes and “have not seen any people trapped inside,” despite some reports.

Currently, crews are attempting to “find ways of lighting up the inside of the vessel” to help them “properly” search for the missing.

The senior fire official says five additional expert diving units “have arrived in Sicily to help with the emergency,” and 15 people are working around the clock to try and find the individuals.

“It’s a very long job,” the senior official explains, noting that there are “physical limits” to what crews can do underneath the water’s surface. “At most, it is a 15 minute segment — and that includes going up and going down. And then they need time to recover.”

Crews search the water for individuals who were onboard a luxury yacht when it sank early on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024.Lo Bianco/Anadolu via Getty

Lo Bianco/Anadolu via Getty

Marco Tilotta, a diver with the local fire department, previously said it has been “difficult” to access the hull, which is “a world of objects” inside, according tothe BBC. Navigating the narrow spaces, he added, “is a really hard and difficult job.”

However, the diver emphasized, “we are not stopping.”

Added Tilotta, “We have resources, manpower and means. Our goal is to find all the people who are missing, so that is our job.”

source: people.com