Thomas McIntosh
BBC News
Getty Images
The recovery process is expected to take several weeks
A diver died during a reserve operation to recover British tech giant Mike Lynch’s superyacht from the coast off the coast of North Sicily, local police said.
The accident occurred Friday while divers were in the waters of Porticero, police said, but added that the exact cause of the death was still unknown.
According to local Italian media, the diver was a 39-year-old Dutch national who worked for a specialized salvage company.
The rescue ship arrived earlier this month, and the Bayesian ship arrived on the water from a small harbor in Porticello near Palermo, where the weather was sank in unusual weather last August.
Seven of the 22 people on the Bayesian were killed last summer, including Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Jonathan Bloomer, 70, of Morgan Stanley Bank, and his wife, Judy, 71, US lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife, Neda Moviro and yacht chef Ricardo Thomas, also siding down on August 19th.
Fifteen people were able to escape on a lifeboat, including a one-year-old and Mr. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.
The cause of the sinking is being investigated with naval experts who say that Bayesian caliber yachts could have withstand the storm and certainly had sinked quickly.
PA Media
Hannah and Mike Lynch were among the seven people who died when Bayesian sinks
The salvage business is overseen by British Marine Corps consultant TMC Marine and is led by Netherlands-based companies Hebo and Smit Salvage, a maritime services company from Rotterdam, and is supported by Italian experts.
It has been deployed to approximately 70 experts from across Europe to Sicily and is working on recovery efforts.
On Thursday, the team said on-site preparations are scheduled and “major progress” has been made over the past five days.
Analysis of the yacht and surrounding seabeds confirmed that the condition had not changed since the last inspection.
It was scheduled to start later this month by moving the Bayesian into an upright position and lifting it onto the surface.
Seawater is discharged before the ship is transported to the port.
Perini Navi Press Office
Bayesian left the Sicily port of Milazzo on August 14 before sinking on August 19th
Before Bayesians can raise it, rescue workers separate the ship’s extensive rigging and the 72m (236ft) mast, holding the world’s tallest mast in place by a steel sling.
These are stored and collected at the seabed after the team has retrieved the ship’s hull. This is said to be the main source of evidence.
There was no reported contamination from the yacht. Conditions are monitored and efforts are made to ensure vents and openings in the tank.
The UK investigative procedures look at the deaths of Mr. Brumer and his daughter, who were all British citizens.
Mr. Lynch and his daughter were said to have lived near London, and Bloomer lived in Seven Oaks, Kent.
The bigwig founded the software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared last June last year after 2011 in 2011 after a massive fraud over the sale of the company to Hewlett-Packard (HP).
The boat trip was a celebration of his innocence in a case in the US.
