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The missing six from the sunken British superyacht could still be alive in air pockets, an engineer has claimed.
An unexpected violent storm sank the luxury vessel, called Bayesian, in the early hours of Monday. At least one man has been confirmed dead, Recaldo Thomas, while six people are still missing and a further 15 survived.
Nick Sloane, who worked on the Costa Concordia salvage operation in 2012, said rescue divers are entering a “critical” 24 hours to rescue anybody who might still be alive, with the Italian coastguard believing the missing six are trapped in the ship.
Mr Sloane told Sky News: “They’ve got a very small window of time to try to find people stuck inside with hopefully an air pocket, and they could be rescued. You’ve got a maximum of two to three days to try to get someone out, so the next 24 hours are critical.”
The missing tourists are billionaire Mr Lynch; his daughter, Hannah Lynch; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
Mr Lynch had reportedly invited his lawyers and friends to celebrate a recent legal victory that cleared him of fraud accusations in the US.
Have you been affected by this story? Email tara.cobham@independent.co.uk
Yacht rescue teams ‘could be listening for timed banging noise’ from vessel
Rescue teams trying to access the submerged Bayesian yacht could be listening out for a timed banging noise, a senior university lecturer has said.
A maritime diving and wreckage expert also warned the teams would have to make “a big choice” as their efforts intensify.
Read the full report below:
Jabed Ahmed20 August 2024 22:05
Mapped: Where did the yacht sink?
The luxury yacht sunk off the coast of Palermo, Sicily.
The 56-metre-long sailboat sank with 22 people on board shortly before sunrise, the Italian coast guard said in a statement.
“The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude,” a coast guard official in Palermo told Reuters.
Storms and heavy rainfall have swept down Italy in recent days – with floods and landslides causing major damage in the north of the country – after weeks of scorching heat.
The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “at anchor”, according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder.
Jabed Ahmed20 August 2024 21:50
Desperate conditions facing divers looking for survivors on submerged Bayesian
Cave-diving experts are among the rescuers still hoping to find survivors trapped underwater on the superyachtBayesian, which was sunk by a tornado off Sicily.
It is thought that the only hope of survival for the six passengers who are still unaccounted for – tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter; Morgan Stanley executive Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda – is that they are in an air pocket on the doomed £30m vessel.
Among those assisting with the search are two cave divers who are attempting to navigate the dark, tight corridors of the “fully intact” yacht, which is now lying at a depth of 49 metres.
My colleague Barney Davis reports:
Tara Cobham20 August 2024 21:45
Law firm Clifford Chance ‘in shock’ after lawyer missing in yacht disaster
A prominent New York lawyer who is among the six missing passengers of the sunken yacht off Italy’s coast was travelling with his longtime client, British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, just weeks after helping him avoid conviction in a 12-year legal saga.
Divers were still searching on Tuesday for the defence lawyer and former federal prosecutor Christopher Morvillo, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, and his wife Neda, along with Lynch and three other missing passengers.
Ayla Ronald, a London-based senior associate at Clifford Chance, and her partner were among the survivors, the London-founded global law firm said in a statement on Tuesday. Ronald has also represented Lynch, according to her profile on the firm’s website.
“We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident,” a Clifford Chance spokesperson said.
Morvillo, 59, was a lead lawyer for Lynch and won his acquittal in June after a three-month-long San Francisco fraud trial stemming from Hewlett-Packard’s ill-fated acquisition of Lynch’s software company…
Read More: Mike Lynch yacht latest: Survivors could be alive inside Bayesian due to ‘air