$30m operation to recover Bayesian superyacht underway
Plans to recover the Bayesian superyacht, which sank in a freak accident off the Sicilian coast on 19 August 2024, killing seven people, are advancing with several salvage proposals under review.
The 56-metre Perini Navi yacht, owned by British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, sank approximately 0.8 nautical miles from the Porticello fishing port after being struck by severe weather. Among those lost were Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah Lynch; the yacht’s chef Renaldo Thomas; Jonathan Bloomer, chair of Morgan Stanley International bank; and Bloomer’s wife, Judy. Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and nine crew members.
CNN reports that the yacht is insured for around $2.1bn, according to records filed in Italy, which lists several different insurance companies that covered the ship for liability as well as its engine and hull.
The vessel now rests at a depth of 50 metres, lying on its right-hand side. Salvage efforts are anticipated to cost approximately $30m and are reportedly being managed by a consortium of insurers.
Rescue teams searching the wreck of the Bayesian. Image courtesy of Vigili del Fuoco.
According to local news outlets, eight recovery proposals have been submitted to prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano’s office in Termini Imerese, which oversees the criminal investigation into the disaster. The plans focus on maintaining the yacht’s structural integrity to support ongoing inquiries into potential negligence or design flaws.
Key considerations for the operation include preserving the yacht’s 534-tonne structure and its 72-metre mast while avoiding environmental risks posed by the 18,000 litres of fuel onboard. CNN reports some of the proposed methods include harness systems and buoyancy techniques similar to those used in the Costa Concordia salvage. Once stabilised and surfaced, the yacht is expected to be transported to Palermo, 8.4 nautical miles away, for forensic examination by law enforcement officials.
Prosecutor Cammarano’s investigation seeks to determine if negligence, such as improperly secured doors, or a design flaw caused the sinking. Perini Navi, the manufacturer, asserts the yacht was “unsinkable” and attributes the incident to human error.
Few days ago we encountered the exquisite Bayesian vessel,anchored near us. All night until sunrise we took plenty of picts of it. The 75-meter mast illuminated at night was spectacular. We speculated about the individuals on board,enjoying the time of their lives. What a tragedy pic.twitter.com/OqYIwaV1vb
— Khorakhané(@Khorakhane100) August 19, 2024
Currently, the captain, the engineer, and a deckhand are under investigation for manslaughter but have not been formally charged.
The salvage operation, set to commence in mid-January and conclude by February, requires approval from the Italian Coast Guard and Civil Protection agencies. Sensitive data reportedly stored in watertight safes onboard will also be retrieved during the process.
Bayesian sinking
The guests aboard Bayesian were celebrating Lynch’s acquittal in a £8bn fraud case at the time of the incident.
Bayesian was built by Perini Navi, an Italian brand that TISG acquired in January 2021 from a bankruptcy auction along with Perini Navi’s brand, archives and real estate.
The incident quickly turned into a PR nightmare for TISG, which reportedly dismissed its legal team after they filed a rogue lawsuit against Mike Lynch’s widow Angela Bacares and the yacht’s crew, only a month after the tragedy.
The lawsuit, which sought up to €222m (£186m) in damages for reputational harm, was filed by Tommaso Bertuccelli, a lawyer working with TISG, Italian publication La Nazione first reported. TISG has since revealed that Bertuccelli had done so without the company’s knowledge or approval, and the lawsuit was withdrawn.
Chief executive Giovanni Costantino spoke out about his “sadness on one hand and disbelief on the other” at the incident, maintaining there was no fault with the vessel’s design.
On 31 October, New York Times published an in-depth investigation exploring what caused the sinking, and claiming that the extra-tall mast made the yacht “vulnerable to capsizing”.
TISG refutes the article’s claims, asserting that it contained “inaccurate technical assessments”, and has since announced legal proceedings against the New York Times in response to the article published 31 October 2024.
The post $30m operation to recover Bayesian superyacht underway appeared first on Marine Industry News.
