Sicily yacht sinking: Body of ship's chef believed recovered, as six presumed dead

A luxury superyacht, the 56-metre Bayesian, capsized and sank off the coast of Sicily during severe weather, leaving one person dead, six missing, and 15 rescued. Among the missing is British tech magnate Mike Lynch.

One dead and six missing after a luxury superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily on Monday. Source: AAP / Perini Nasvi Press Office

Key Points

• A luxury yacht capsized off Sicily, leaving one dead and six missing, including UK tech magnate Mike Lynch.
• Fifteen people have been rescued and eight were hospitalised after a storm hit the 56m yacht.
• The Bayesian, notable for its tall mast, was moored near Porticello when a waterspout struck.

Six people are now presumed dead after a luxury superyacht carrying foreign tourists capsized and sank off the Italian island of Sicily in bad weather.

One body, reported to be the yacht's chef, was found, while six people remain missing and 15 people have been rescued, authorities said.

The ship had overturned around 5am local time (1pm AEST) on Monday off the port of Porticello when a tornado over the water known as a waterspout struck the area Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency said.

It had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, including British, American and Canadian nationalities, the Italian coast guard said.

Among the missing is British technology magnate Mike Lynch, according to Italy’s civil protection and authorities. Lynch’s wife and 14 other people survived.

The passengers were guests of Lynch, who is sometimes referred to as the British Bill Gates, and were reportedly joining him to celebrate his recent acquittal on fraud charges.

Health workers carry a body bag on the pier as rescue operation continues for the missing people who were on board. Source: ANSA / Igor Petyx

Police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was resting at a depth of 50 metres off Porticello, near Palermo, where it had been anchored, rescue authorities said.

While Italy's coast guard said the search continued without a break, Captain Vincenzo Zagarola said it was "difficult to imagine" it would end well.

A sudden fierce storm had battered the area overnight and struck precisely where the 56-metre British-flagged Bayesian had been moored.

The Bayesian was notable for its single 75-metre mast, one of the world’s tallest mast made of aluminium, and which was lit up at night just hours before it sank.

Italian police officers stand at the port as the search continues for six missing passengers. Source: AFP / Alessandro Fucarini

Online charter sites list it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $321,000) a week.

Eight of the 15 people rescued and taken ashore at Porticello were hospitalised, while the others were taken to a hotel.

One body believed to be the cook was found near the wreck, but six others were unaccounted for and believed inside the hull, a spokesperson for the Italian fire rescue service said.

Rescue crews located the vessel and deep-water police divers were trying to access the hull, they said.

The operations, which were visible from shore, involved helicopters and rescue boats from the coast guard, fire rescue and civil protection service.

Authorities said the crew and passengers hailed from a variety of countries. In addition to Britain and the US, passengers and crew were from Antigua, France, Germany, Ireland, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain.

A Dutch foreign ministry spokesperson said the lone Dutch citizen on board, a man, had been rescued and was not in a life-threatening condition.

Reportedly owned by Lynch's family, the Bayesian was built by Italian shipbuilding firm Perini Navi in 2008.

Who is Mike Lynch, the British 'Bill Gates'?

Originally from Suffolk in east England, Lynch was a former adviser to two British prime ministers and once a star entrepreneur who seemed to represent a rare British tech-industry success story.

The 59-year-old businessman has a fortune of £500 million ($965 million) according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, and owes his fame to his software firm Autonomy, which he sold to Hewlett-Packard (HP) for US$11 billion ($16.3 billion) in 2011.

He founded the company in 1996 in Cambridge, where he earned his doctorate, and turned it into a leading British tech firm.

UK businessman Mike Lynch, who was recently acquitted in the US of fraud charges relating to $16.3 billion, is among those who are missing. Source: AFP / Ben Gurr

But just one year after the mega-deal, HP reported a write-down of US$8.8 billion ($13 billion) — including more than $5 billion ($7.4 billion) it attributed to inflated data from Autonomy — plunging Lynch into a decade-long fraud scandal.

Prosecutors accused him of taking part in a massive scheme as Autonomy's chief executive to deceive HP by pumping up his company's value before its sale.

Last year, Lynch was extradited from Britain to the US to stand trial, facing two decades in jail if convicted of the 17 charges and spending the year in house arrest.

But in June, he was acquitted on all charges.