Everything We Know About the Luxury Yacht Sinking in Sicily, Killing 7 on Celebratory Trip

Mar. 15, 2025

What started out asa celebration on a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicilyended in tragedy on Monday, Aug. 19, when the craft — the 183-foot-longBayesian— is said to havesunk quickly into the waves of the Tyrrhenian Seaafter what the Italian coast guard called a “violent storm.”

Twenty-two people were aboard,including 12 passengersand 10 crew, authorities have said.

Fifteen people were soon rescued after theBayesiansank. By Friday, Aug. 23, followingcomplicated and protracted search and rescue efforts, the bodies of all seven victims had been found, sources told PEOPLE.

Among the dead were British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah.

Here’s what to know about the tragedy, as Sicilian officials are expected to share more information this weekend.

What is theBayesianyacht?

Notably, the Bayesian has been touted as having the world’s “largest aluminum mast” at some 246 feet.

Other features included specific design elements to “favor alfresco entertainment” outdoors, such as a large covered saloon, as one charter company put it. And the interior was intended to “create familiar, pure, and natural atmospheres,” according to the charter description. Past photos show rooms bedecked in warmly lit neutrals and cream colors.

TheBayesianluxury yacht that sank on Aug. 19 off the coast of Sicily.PERINI NAVI PRESS OFFICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

PERINI NAVI PRESS OFFICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Where was theBayesianyacht when the storm hit?

According to the Italian coast guard, the Bayesian was off the coast of Porticello in Sicily, on the northern tip of the island, when disaster struck on Aug. 19.

A source close to the survivors previously told PEOPLE that the passengers were celebrating after Lynch, labeled in headlines as Britain’s “Bill Gates,” was acquitted in June in a financial fraud trial in the U.S. that was related to selling his software company Autonomy for $11 billion to Hewlett Packard in 2011.

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

Lynch himself reflected on how his life had changed after coming out of the shadow of his legal troubles. He toldThe Sunday Timesin the U.K. in late July that he felt like he’d been given a “second life.”

But “the question is,” he said then, “what do you want to do with it?”

Who was on the yacht before it sank?

The 12 passengers included Lynch, his daughter Hannah and his wife, Angela Bacares; Chairman of Morgan Stanley InternationalJonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer;New York City-based lawyer Christopher Morvilloand his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo;Charlotte Golunski, her partner, James, and daughter Sophie andAyla Ronald, a colleague at Christopher Morvillo’s law firm.

The BBCreports thatRonald was also with her partner.

The 10 crew members included cookRecaldo Thomas, who was among the seven victims who died, as well as the captain,reportedly namedJames Cutfield, and others. AccordingtoThe New York Times, one of the deck stewards was a 19-year-old South African native on his first such voyage.

Divers during the search and rescue efforts for the people aboard theBayesianyacht after it sank off the coast of Sicily.HANDOUT/Vigili del Fuoco/AFP via Getty

HANDOUT/Vigili del Fuoco/AFP via Getty

Who was rescued from the yacht?

“It all happened in really little time,” he told Italian news outlet Rai, according to the BBC.

“The storm was over. We noticed that the ship behind us was gone,” Borner told the BBC. “And then we saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position and we found this life raft drifting [with] 15 people inside.”

People hug each other on the pier of Porticello near Palermo, Sicily, on Aug. 22, three days after the British-flagged luxury yachtBayesiansank.ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty

ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty

Who died in the sinking?

Five other passengers were initially described as missing, and five more bodies have since been found in the wreck, sources said: Lynch’s daughter Hannah; Jonathan and Judy Bloomer and Christopher and Neda Morvillo.

Mike Lynch.Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty

Hannah Lynch.FAMILY HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

FAMILY HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Why did theBayesiansink?

This has emerged asperhaps the key question in the tragedy, and the answer remains unclear.

“The dynamics aren’t clear — lightning, mini tornado, water spout, it’s not clear exactly what happened,” one person close to the search efforts tells PEOPLE. “The most likely hypothesis is that the cause was indeed a tornado that began at land and then sped out off coast and became a waterspout at sea with a speed of more than [180 miles] per hour, to the point that it managed to practically sink the ship whilst causing minimum damage to both the mast and the hull.”

“Eyewitnesses said the boat went down in minutes,” this person adds.

The source says the vessel’s upper hatches could have been open at the time of the disaster, which would have caused the boat to quickly fill up with water. The source also says that large amounts of water may have flowed onto the ship through the hatches as the vessel rocked back and forth during the storm.

“This would be the only thing that could cause the hull to rear up which, as several survivors told the investigators, made the ship sink in literally 60 seconds​​​​​​​​​​​​​​,” the source says.

Neda (left) and Christopher Morvillo.Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Another factor that could have caused the yacht to lose stability was its movable keel, which is an underwater blade designed to help keep boats upright and prevent them from swaying back and forth, the source close to the investigation tells PEOPLE.

They say that the 30-foot keel was allegedly retracted to about 13 feet when the storm hit, while natural experts say it would have been strange to retract the keel at that location if the crew knew bad weather was approaching.

The boat’s 236-foot mast may also have played a role in allowing the boat to rock, similar to a pendulum.

“This episode sounds like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact,” Giovanni Costantino — who leads The Italian Sea Group, the company that now owns Perini Navi, which built the Bayesian in 2008 — said,according to CNN.

Speaking with PEOPLE, Costantino was more circumspect.

“I obviously can’t say for certain [what happened],” he says, “but what I’m sure of is that the only reason a sailboat, especially one with Perini Navi technologies installed, could sink is if it fills with water."

Abigail Adams

source: people.com