super yacht sinks off coast of italy

Video shows moments before superyacht went down in storm off Sicily

Newly released video captures a luxury superyacht being battered by a violent storm before it suddenly sank off Sicily with 22 people aboard Monday.

The grainy images obtained by NBC News and other outlets were recorded on closed-circuit television not far from where the Bayesian was anchored, about a half-mile from the port of Porticello, on Sicily’s northern coast .

The yacht's 250-foot mast, illuminated with lights and lashed by the storm, appears to bend to one side before it finally disappears and is replaced by darkness.

The speed with which a yacht built to handle the roughest seas capsized stunned maritime experts.  

“I can’t remember the last time I read about a vessel going down quickly like that, you know, completely capsizing and going down that quickly, a vessel of that nature, a yacht of that size,” said Stephen Richter of SAR Marine Consulting.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and five of the 22 other people who were aboard the 184-foot vessel remain unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped in the Bayesian’s hull, nearly 170 feet underwater.

Officials confirmed Monday that at least one person, the ship’s cook, had died.  

Superyachts like the Bayesian, which had been available for charters at a rate of $215,000 a week, are designed to stay afloat even as they are taking on water to give the people aboard a chance to escape, Richter said. 

“Boats of this size, they’re taking passengers on an excursion or a holiday,” Richter said. “They are not going to put them in situations where it may be dangerous or it may be uncomfortable, so this storm that popped up was obviously an anomaly. These vessels that carry passengers, they’re typically very well-maintained, very well-appointed.”

Built by Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi in 2008, the U.K.-registered Bayesian could carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10, according to online specialist yacht sites. Its nearly 250-foot mast is the tallest aluminum sailing mast in the world, according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters. 

On Tuesday, Italian rescue workers resumed the search for Lynch and the five other passengers still missing: Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah; Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife.

“The fear is that the bodies got trapped inside the vessel,” Salvatore Cocina, the head of civil protection in Sicily, told Reuters .

The Bayesian is owned by a firm linked to Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who was one of the 15 people rescued Monday after it capsized.

“It’s extremely rare for a boat of this size to sink,” Richter said.

What’s not rare is the kind of storm that sank it , said Simon Boxall, senior lecturer in oceanography at Britain’s University of Southampton.

“People assume the Mediterranean is this rather calm and passive place that never gets storms and always blue skies,” Boxall said. “In fact, you get some quite horrendous storms that are not uncommon at this time of year.”

The president of Italy’s meteorological society has said Monday’s violent storm may have involved a waterspout, essentially a tornado over water, or a downburst, which occurs more frequently but doesn’t involve the rotation of the air.

Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian Meteorology Society, also said recent temperatures may have been a factor. 

“The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius [86 Fahrenheit], which is almost 3 degrees more than normal,” Mercalli told Reuters. “This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms.”

The Mediterranean sailing vacation was designed to be a celebration for Lynch, who two months ago was acquitted by a San Francisco jury of fraud charges stemming from the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion.

Prosecutors alleged that Lynch, dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates,” and Autonomy’s vice president for finance, Stephen Chamberlain, had padded the firm’s finances ahead of the sale. Lynch’s lawyers argued that HP was so eager to acquire Autonomy that it failed to adequately check the books .

Lynch had taken Morvill, who was one of his defense attorneys, on the luxury trip. 

Chamberlain was not on the Bayesian.

In what appears to be a tragic coincidence, a car struck and killed Chamberlain on Saturday as he was jogging in a village about 68 miles north of London, local police said.

“Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family,” Chamberlain’s lawyer, Gary Lincenberg, said in a statement .

Henry Austin reported from London and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.

Henry Austin is a senior editor for NBC News Digital based in London.

Corky Siemaszko is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Dramatic video shows 130ft superyacht sinking off Italy coast after being battered in storm

Nine people rescued before boat went under, article bookmarked.

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Dramatic footage has captured the moment a 40-metre superyacht sank into the Mediterranean sea after being battered in a storm.

The 40-metre-long luxury vessel was sailing from Gallipoli to Milazzo overnight on Saturday when it got into trouble around 15km from Italy’s Catanzaro Marina.

Footage shows the yacht, named My Saga, rapidly disappearing beneath waves, as lifeboats appear to float beside it.

The captain sent out a distress call to the Port Authority of Crotone, with officials told the yacht was taking on a significant amount of water from the stern.

The Italian coastguard dispatched two patrol vessels and rescued all four passengers and five crew members on board.

A tugboat sent out at dawn was unable to save the superyacht from sinking because of worsening weather conditions, the Super Yacht Times reports. The Saga finally sank at around 1pm on Sunday.

The outlet reports the yacht, which was built in Monaco back in 2007, was flying under the Cayman Islands flag with an all-Italian crew when it sunk.

An investigation has been launched into the cause.

It comes after a £6 million superyacht sunk after it went up in flames in the UK on the Torquay harbourside.

The 85ft vessel was consumed by fire , with thick black smoking billowing into the sky.

The yacht reportedly drifted out into the harbour after the fire burnt through ropes securing it to the pier, but the vessel was later secured by the fire service.

A fire service statement revealed that the vessel contained approximately 8000 litres of diesel fuel.

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Scramble to find survivors after Bayesian yacht sinks off Sicily coast

A rescue operation is ongoing for 6 missing people, including british entrepreneur mike lynch. an american was also among the missing..

One person died and six people were missing after a luxury yacht sank Monday in Italy off the coast of Palermo, the capital of Sicily, after a sudden storm hit the area, according to Italy's coast guard.

The Bayesian, a 184-feet-long, British-registered sailboat, went down just before sunrise, capsizing its 22 passengers and killing one man, the ship's cook, t he coast guard said in a statement. On Monday, rescue teams identified the body as Antiguan citizen Ricardo Thomas.

Of the 15 passengers rescued, eight were taken to a local hospital for treatment and were in stable condition, local news reported. A 1-year-old was among those rescued.

"We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily and are in contact with the local authorities," the U.K Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY.

The people missing were American, British, and Canadian nationals.

What caused the Bayesian to sink?

The ship sank after unexpectedly strong storms recently dumped heavy rainfall, causing flooding and landslides, in parts of the country. Among those missing are British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, and his daughter, a person familiar with the rescue operation told Reuters.

Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Lynch in a  U.S. trial , were among the missing. The wives of both men were also unaccounted for, said Salvatore Cocina, head of civil protection in Sicily.

"The fear is that the bodies got trapped inside the vessel," he told Reuters.

The yacht was owned by Lynch's family and had 22 people on board when it sank just before sunrise. The captain of a nearby ship told Reuters his crew rescued some survivors from a life raft, including three seriously injured.

"We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone," Karsten Borner said. The other boat "went flat on the water, and then down," he said.

"A little baby and the wife of the owner" were rescued, while the ship's owner and a child were missing, he said.

The boat was located 160 feet under the water and divers were deployed to inspect the wreck, according to the coast guard.

The search-and-rescue operation continued on Monday morning, a Reuters live feed showed . A helicopter and four coast guard ships were at the scene on Monday morning, according to the coast guard.

Bayesian had set sail off Amalfi Coast in July

Prosecutors in a nearby town have opened an investigation into the events leading up to the ship sinking.

The Bayesian set off for Palermo from Positano, a village on Italy's southern Amalfi Coast, on July 30, according to marinetraffic.com . It last docked in the town of Milazzo, in Messina, on Wednesday, according to VesselFinder.

The ship has the tallest aluminum mast in the world, according to Perini Navi , its manufacturer. It was built in 2008.

Contributing: Reuters

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WATCH: Superyacht Capsizes and Sinks Off the Coast of Southern Italy in Shocking Video

It is unknown what caused the 40-meter-long vessel called "My Saga" to go under

Natalia Senanayake is an Editorial Assistant, Lifestyle at PEOPLE. She covers all things travel and home, from celebrities' luxury mansions to breaking travel news.

A 40-meter-long (131-foot) superyacht capsized nine miles off the coast of Catanzaro, Italy on Saturday.

Shocking footage released by the Italian coast guard shows the vessel, named My Saga, sinking stern-first near the Catanzaro Marina.

According to the BBC , "the Italian coast guard rescued all nine people on board – four passengers and five crew. The outlet reported the ship was heading from Gallipoli to Milazzo.

An investigation of the incident is ongoing and it is still unclear what caused the yacht to sink.

In the video tweeted by the Italian coast guard, the yacht is seen floating on its side amid rough waters before its rear starts dipping into the Ionian Sea.

The footage cuts to the vessel then halfway submerged in the water before it quickly vanishes beneath the surface.

Along with the video, the coast guard wrote a caption. Translated from Italian it reads, "In recent days, the #GuardiaCostiera of #Crotone coordinated rescue operations for passengers and crew of a 40m yacht, which sank 9 miles off the coast of #CatanzaroMarina. Administrative investigation was launched to identify the causes."

My Saga was designed by Tim Heywood and Jean-Marc Achy. It was equipped "with a teak deck, a steel hull, and aluminum superstructure," according to the London-based luxury lifestyle publisher, BOAT International .

The superyacht boasted six cabins that could accommodate up to 12 guests and eight crew members.

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British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch missing after superyacht sinks in storm off coast of Sicily

Topic: Maritime Accidents and Incidents

Video released by Italian authorities show the stretch of sea near Palermo, Sicily, where the superyacht Bayesian sank.   ( AP: via Vigili del Fuoco )

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his lawyer and four other people are missing after a superyacht carrying 22 people sank off the coast of Sicily, authorities say. 

Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch's wife, have been rescued after the boat was hit by a violent storm at sunrise, according to the Italian Coast Guard. 

What's next?

Divers had located the wreck 50 metres underwater and search operations are continuing. 

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his lawyer and four other people are missing after a superyacht carrying 22 people capsized and sank off the coast of Sicily due to bad weather.

Mr Lynch's wife and 14 other people were rescued, including a one-year-old girl, and one person has died.

A person familiar with the rescue operation confirmed to Reuters that Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah has not been accounted for.

The British-flagged, 56-metre Bayesian had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, representing British, American and Canadian nationalities, the Italian Coast Guard said.

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is reportedly among those missing. ( Reuters: Henry Nicholls )

Managers of the sailing yacht Bayesian, Camper & Nicholsons, confirmed to the ABC that the Bayesian encountered severe weather and subsequently sank near the Sicilian capital Palermo, Italy, at 4:30am Monday, local time. 

"Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew," they said. 

Fifteen people were rescued and taken to shore at Porticello, where eight were receiving treatment in hospital and remain in a stable condition, the Italian Coast Guard said.

One body has been recovered and police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was resting at a depth of 50 meters where it had been anchored.

British Bill Gates missing

Mr Lynch is often dubbed by UK media as "the British Bill Gates" and the BBC confirmed the luxury yacht was tied to his wife, Angela Bacares.

According to maritime data service Equasis, the owner of the the Bayesian is listed as Revtom Ltd, the BBC reported.

Additionally, the yacht's name would resonate with Mr Lynch because his PhD thesis and the software that made his fortune was based on Bayesian theory.

Mr Lynch was acquitted in June by a jury in San Francisco of fraud charges linked to the sale of his software company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard for $US11 billion ($16.4 billion) in 2011.

He said at the time that he was "elated" to be cleared in the criminal trial in which he denied any wrongdoing, and blamed HP for botching the integration of the two companies.

In a separate incident, Mr Lynch's co-defendant in the trial, Stephen Chamberlain, died on Monday after a road accident left him critically injured.

Mr Chamberlain — Autonomy's former vice-president of finance alongside Mr Lynch — had been placed on life support after being hit by a car in Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning.

Rescued baby held above waves 

The coast guard said that rescue efforts had located the wreck at a depth of 50 metres underwater. 

The Italian fire and rescue service agency said search operations at sea were continuing with the coordination of the Italian Coast Guard, in a translated post on the social media platform X. 

One of the survivors, identified only as Charlotte, said she had momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

A spokesperson for the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said they were providing support to British nationals.

"We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily, and are in contact with the local authorities"

Captain of nearby boat helped rescue passengers

The captain of a nearby boat that helped to rescue passengers from the Bayesian said that when the storm hit he turned his engine on to keep control of the vessel and avoid a collision with the Bayesian.

"We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone," Karsten Borner told Reuters.

He said that his crew then found 15 survivors on a life raft, including three who were seriously injured and took them on board before the coast guard picked them up.

"There were 15 people inside," he said.

"Then we communicated with the Coast Guard and after some time, the Coast Guard came and later picked up injured people, and 2 hours later they picked up the other people."

Mr Borner said "a little baby and the wife of the owner" were among the survivors, while the owner of the sunken ship and another child were among those missing.

He described the conditions as "very strong" and said that his vessel was "heeling" but the Bayesian "went flat on the water and then down".

"There was a light and we saw that the ship was aside and then we saw a triangle," he said.

"So I think she went back down."

Storms and heavy rainfall swept Italy in recent days

Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation to look into what had gone wrong.

The Bayesian, seen the night before it sank, has the tallest aluminium mast in the world. ( Reuters: Baia Santa Nicolicchia/Fabio La Bianca )

"The wind was very strong," a coast guard official in Palermo told Reuters.

"Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude."

After weeks of scorching heat, storms and heavy rainfall have swept down Italy in recent days — with floods and landslides causing major damage in the north of the country. 

Local media said a fierce storm, including water spouts, had battered the area overnight but skies were clear and seas calm by Monday morning.

The ANSA news agency said the yacht, built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Navi, had been moored off the port at Porticello.

The yacht had won a string of awards for its design and can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites and a crew of 10, according to online specialist yacht sites.

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

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Dramatic video captures the moment superyacht sinks off italian coast.

Dramatic footage has emerged of the moment a 130-foot superyacht capsized off the Italian coast over the weekend, sinking stern-first into the water.

The video, released by the coast guard, showed the yacht named My Saga struggling against the waves before sinking near the Catanzaro Marina on Saturday.

Officials confirmed that nine people were rescued from the sinking vessel.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Designed by naval architect Tim Heywood , My Saga was built in Italy in 2007. At the time of the incident, the boat was en route from Gallipoli to Milazzo under a Cayman Islands flag.

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Video shows 40-metre superyacht sinking off Italy's Catanzaro coast

'my saga' sank on saturday while sailing from gallipoli to milazzo, italian local media reported.

23 August, 2022

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Video captures 130-foot superyacht sinking off southern coast of Italy

A superyacht sank off the southern coast of Italy over the weekend of Aug. 20 in a spectacular capsizing captured on video and shared on Twitter by the Italian coast guard.

The video compilation shows the My Saga , a roughly 130-foot boat, struggling against the waves before slowly sinking into the water.

The yacht was sailing from the town of Gallipoli to Milazzo, Sicily, on Aug. 20, local news outlets reported, when it began to take on water and eventually sank some hours later about nine nautical miles off the port of Catanzaro.

All crew members and passengers were rescued and uninjured, the coast guard said on Twitter. It said it launched an investigation to determine what happened.

Nei giorni scorsi, la #GuardiaCostiera di #Crotone ha coordinato operazioni di salvataggio di passeggeri ed equipaggio di uno yacht di 40m, affondato a 9 miglia al largo di #CatanzaroMarina . Avviata inchiesta amministrativa per individuarne le cause. #SAR #AlServizioDegliAltri pic.twitter.com/kezuiivqsM — Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) August 22, 2022

The My Saga first reported a problem on Aug. 20 after setting sail from Gallipoli , on Italy’s southeastern peninsula, according to the country’s National Associated Press Agency (ANSA). Patrol boats from the Italian coast guard in Crotone and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) were dispatched to the scene.

They found the ship taking on water from its stern. Five people — four passengers and a member of the crew — were initially rescued on a Romanian patrol boat acting on behalf of Frontex. They were then transferred to the coast guard boat and taken to Catanzaro.

According to an Italian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation, the My Saga flew a Cayman Islands flag and was owned by a Danish company. The group on board when the boat took on water included six Italian nationals, two Danish citizens and a South African national, the person said.

The owner contracted a towing company to attempt to rescue the ship, according to the official. A tugboat, the Alessandro Second, arrived and took the four remaining crew members — including the captain — onboard before beginning to tow the ship toward Crotone. But bad weather made the process difficult, as did the position of the yacht, which was tilted into the water.

Eventually, the tugboat abandoned the yacht, and it sank into the Gulf of Squillace. The coast guard took the remaining crew members to Catanzaro.

It’s not the first time a sinking yacht has captured attention on the internet. In May, rapper Cardi B posted footage on social media of a yacht sinking near her hotel while she was on vacation in an unknown location. The artist could be heard screaming as she asked whether there wasn’t a “big boat that could save it.” Eventually, she said “bye-bye” as it disappeared into the water. She later clarified that no one was onboard .

I can’t believe I’m actually watching a yacht sink pic.twitter.com/dLL3ZJJv9R — Cardi B (@iamcardib) May 28, 2022

The same month, passersby watched as another multimillion-dollar yacht, the Rendezvous, sank in Torquay Harbor, a marina in southwestern England, after a fire broke out onboard. Authorities warned of potential air and water pollution because the yacht carried about nine metric tons of diesel.

And earlier this month, the 145-foot Aria SF caught fire off the Balearic island of Formentera in Spain in an incident that was also captured on camera and shared widely on social media. Those onboard were evacuated, and no one was hurt, the Guardian reported . The roughly $23 million yacht had reportedly just been delivered to its owner.

Chico Harlan contributed to this report.

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• boat accident

Massive yacht sinking into sea off coast of Italy caught on video

Luxury yacht was 130-feet long

ROME -- Questions abound after a massive 130-foot luxury vessel was swallowed up by the sea.

The whole thing was caught on camera, CNN reported .

Authorities are trying to figure out what led to a spectacular superyacht suddenly sinking into the sea 9 miles off the coast of Italy.

Shocking video showing the impressive vessel slowly disappearing was shared by the Italian Coast Guard, who had rescued nine people off the vessel as it began to sink.

RELATED: 'My life is going to end': Family speaks out after surviving small plane crash in Michigan

Local reports said rough weather conditions made a tug-boat salvage of the yacht impossible.

But authorities are still trying to figure out exactly how it all went down.

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Huge 130ft superyacht caught on camera sinking off coast of Italy

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Nine people have been rescued after a 130ft superyacht suddenly sunk off Italy’s coast.

The ‘My Saga’ motor yacht sunk on August 20 off the coast of Catanzaro Marina, in southern Italy.

Video footage from the scene shows the yacht sticking out of the water before fully submerging stern-first into the water.

Sky News reports the worsening weather conditions made it challenging for the tug boat to bring the yacht to safety.

An investigation into what caused the yacht to sink is now underway.

According to Super Yacht Times, the yacht was built in 2007 in Italy and was travelling from Gallipoli to Milazzo under a Cayman Islands flag with an Italian crew when it sunk.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The crew were evacuated and no injuries were reported before the whole vessel sank at 1pm local time.

A Romanian patrol boat intervened on behalf of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, and a second patrol boat from the nearby Italian city of Crotone was used to rescue the crew and attempted to tow the yacht to safety.

But attempts failed and the boat has now vanished completely.

In 2021, 17 people had to be rescued after a British-flagged boat sank off the island of Milos in Greece .

The vessel at the time overturned and 14 adults alongside three children had to be rescued.

Everyone rescued from the boat was reported to be in a ‘healthy’ condition.

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At Least 1 Dead and 6 Missing After Yacht Sinks Off Sicily

Fifteen other people were rescued. Expert divers were called in to carry out search operations in the deep water. Among the missing was a British software mogul, Mike Lynch.

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By Elisabetta Povoledo

At least one person was killed and six others, including a British software mogul, were missing on Monday after a sailing yacht carrying 22 people sank during a violent storm off the coast of Sicily, Italian officials said.

The yacht sank after a storm “with strong winds” struck around 5 a.m., according to Luciano Pischedda, the Italian Coast Guard official overseeing the rescue operations. The vessel had been anchored about a half-mile off Porticello, about 12 miles east of the Sicilian capital, Palermo.

Camper & Nicholsons, managers of the sailing yacht, said in an emailed statement that there were 12 guests and 10 crew onboard.

The authorities have yet to determine what caused the yacht to sink. “This will be ascertained later,” Mr. Pischedda said, adding that several crew members were in the hospital and had not spoken to investigators.

Among the dead and missing, four were British, two were American, and one was a man with dual citizenship from Canada and Antigua, he said.

One of those unaccounted for is Mike Lynch, a British software mogul who was acquitted in the United States in June of fraud, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.

His wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued. Mr. Lynch, who once was described as Britain’s Bill Gates, had fought for more than a decade against accusations that he had defrauded Hewlett-Packard when he sold it his company, Autonomy, for $11 billion. The legal battle represented one of the biggest fraud cases in Silicon Valley history.

Salvatore Cocina, a top official with Sicily’s civil protection agency, said that Mr. Lynch’s daughter, Hannah Lynch, was also among the six people missing. All were passengers on the yacht, the Coast Guard said.

Mr. Cocina said the body that had been recovered was that of the yacht’s cook.

A passenger ship sailing under the flag of the Netherlands, the Sir Robert Baden Powell, anchored nearby, provided immediate assistance to the 15 surviving passengers, Mr. Pischedda said.

Karsten Börner, the captain of the Sir Robert, said in a telephone interview that he’d had to steady his ship to “keep it in position” during what he described as very strong winds. During the storm, the yacht seemed to disappear, he said. “At a certain moment she was gone behind us,” he said.

After the wind dropped down, “we couldn’t see the yacht any more, and then we saw a red flare,” he added. When he and a colleague went to check out the flare’s position, they spotted a “life raft adrift with 15 people on board, one of them a baby and four people injured,” he said. They were taken aboard the Sir Robert and Captain Börner contacted the Coast Guard, which brought the survivors to shore.

Captain Börner said he didn’t know when the ship went down because the storm made it difficult to see clearly. The wind was “really violent,” he said.

For the most part, the survivors didn’t speak much he said. “They were all under shock,” he said. “It was a bad, bad situation.”

Monday’s storm surprised experts with its intensity.

Col. Attilio Di Diodato, director of the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, said the agency had registered intense lightning activity and strong gusts of wind in the area at the time of the accident.

“It was very intense and brief in duration,” he said of the storm. He could not rule out that it had been a waterspout, or small tornado, but nevertheless called it “an important event.”

Italy’s firefighter corps said that its divers had started carrying out a search and rescue mission at dawn.

On Monday afternoon, expert divers with the firefighter corps arrived in Porticello to search the sunken vessel, which was under about 165 feet of water.

Operations at that depth, were “complicated,” and required specialized divers, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for the firefighters.

Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman in Porticello, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that he saw a waterspout — a sort of mini-tornado — that lasted “about 12 minutes” off the shore of Porticello shortly before 4 a.m.

Around 4:10, he said he saw a red flare go off “about 500 meters from the shore.” He said he waited for the weather to calm down, and went out about 20 minutes later to the site where the flare had gone off.

“We found only the cushions, and a few planks” floating in the water, he told the newspaper. There was no sign of the ship, and he immediately called the coast guard.

The boat, identified by Italian officials as the Bayesian, is an Italian-made 56-meter-long sailing yacht first launched in 2008, according to the website marinetraffic.com , which tracks ships. It sails under the flag of Britain, and was built by Perini Navi, an Italian luxury yacht maker.

Eight of the 15 passengers who were rescued were taken to hospitals in Palermo, the coast guard said. Camper & Nicholsons, the managers of the yacht, said its priority was to “provide all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew.”

Giuseppe D’Agostino, the mayor of Santa Flavia, which includes Porticello, said the survivors would be cared for at a local hotel. The city had also brought them immediate necessities, like toiletries and clothes.

He said in a telephone interview that he had not spoken to the survivors since “they’re in shock.”

The youngest passenger onboard, a 1-year-old girl named Sophie, was taken to the Di Cristina hospital in Palermo with her mother, Charlotte, who had some scrapes and cuts, said Domenico Cipolla, director of the pediatric emergency room at the hospital.

Sophie’s father was in the hospital’s adult emergency room and had been in contact with his wife and daughter by phone, Dr. Cipolla said. He was not permitted to release the family’s surname. Both mother and child were in good condition apart from “great emotional stress” he added in a telephone interview.

“We’re comforting them more than curing them,” he said.

Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting.

Elisabetta Povoledo is a reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years. More about Elisabetta Povoledo

By SuperyachtNews 22 Aug 2022

39m superyacht sinks off the coast of Italy

All crew members have been rescued without serious injury…….

Image credit: @SteveNorrisTV/ Twitter

The 39m motor yacht My Saga has sunk off the coast of Italy after it began taking on water at the stern. The local press reported that the yacht officially sunk at 13.00 on the 20th of August in The Gulf of Squillace, roughly nine nautical miles off the coast of Catanzaro.

Reports have suggested that the vessel was cruising from Gallipoli to Milazzo with an all-Italian crew. The Port Authority of Crotone received a message from the yacht the night before which revealed they were taking on water at the stern. 

Two patrol boats were subsequently sent out and the full crew were rescued without any injuries.

A tugboat attempted to bring the vessel back to shore, but unfortunately, weather conditions worsened throughout the day and the vessel ended up taking on too much water.

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• boat accident

Massive yacht sinking into sea off coast of Italy caught on video

Luxury yacht was 130-feet long

ROME -- Questions abound after a massive 130-foot luxury vessel was swallowed up by the sea.

The whole thing was caught on camera, CNN reported .

Authorities are trying to figure out what led to a spectacular superyacht suddenly sinking into the sea 9 miles off the coast of Italy.

Shocking video showing the impressive vessel slowly disappearing was shared by the Italian Coast Guard, who had rescued nine people off the vessel as it began to sink.

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Local reports said rough weather conditions made a tug-boat salvage of the yacht impossible.

But authorities are still trying to figure out exactly how it all went down.

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Dramatic video captures the moment a massive 40-meter superyacht sank off the coast of Italy

• A superyacht sunk off the coast of Southern Italy over the weekend.
• Video of the boat's demise showed the ship sinking stern-first with its bow straight in the air.
• The Italian Coast Guard rescued nine people from the ship before it submerged.

A superyacht measuring nearly 130 feet sunk off the coast of southern Italy on Saturday, after members of the Italian Coast Guard rescued nine people from the submerging ship.

This weekend, the Italian press reported that the 39.4-meter motor yacht named "My Saga" sunk off the coast of Catanzaro Marina.

Video from the scene shows the massive boat teetering into the water before fully sinking stern-first.

—Sky News (@SkyNews) August 22, 2022

Sky News reported that worsening weather conditions rendered it impossible for a rescue tugboat to bring the yacht to safety.

An investigation into what caused the ship to sink is underway, the outlet reported. 

The yacht was built in Italy in 2007, according to Super Yacht Times, and was traveling from Gallipoli to Milazzo under a Cayman Islands flag with a full Italian crew when it sunk. 

• Main content

Italy: Moment 40-metre superyacht sinks off the coast of Catanzaro

Worsening weather conditions made it challenging for the tug boat to bring the 40-metre yacht back to safety.

Monday 22 August 2022 15:28, UK

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Dramatic video shows the moment a 140ft superyacht sinks off Italian coast as nine people rescued

23 August 2022, 14:37 | Updated: 23 August 2022, 14:40

Superyacht sinks off the coast of Italy

By Megan Hinton

The moment a 140ft superyacht sunk off the coast off Italy was captured on camera after the huge ship was hit by a storm.

Listen to this article

According to the Super Yacht Times , the vessel called My Saga was travelling from Gallipoli in Turkey to Milazzo in Italy and was spotted flying a Cayman Islands flag.

Four passengers and five crew were rescued before the ship submerged into the sea and no injuries were reported.

The Italian coast guard said in a tweet: "In recent days, the Guardia Costiera of Crotone coordinated the rescue operations of passengers and crew of a 40m yacht, which sank 9 miles offshore of Catanzaro Marina."

They added: "Administrative investigation launched to identify the causes."

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According to reports, the captain sent out a distress call late at night during a storm because the ship was taking on a significant amount of water.

The superyacht, which was built in 2007, has room for up to 12 guests on board alongside accommodation for 7 crew members including the captain.

It comes after a British man died and six other people were injured when a luxury yacht smashed into rocks in Sardinia three weeks ago.

The 63-year-old, who has not been named but is understood to be the owner of the 70ft Magnum-type motor yacht involved in the crash, was killed in the accident around 8.40pm yesterday near Porto Cervo, in Sardinia.

It is thought the vessel - carrying a total of seven people - was swerving to avoid another boat near a group of islands known as Il Nibani that lie just off the coast when it hit the rocks and half-sunk, La Stampa reports.

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Luxury Yacht Sinks After Being Hit by Tornado Off Coast of Italy: Report

O ne person has died and six others are missing after a luxury yacht was struck by a freak tornado off the coast of Sicily at dawn on Monday.

Two Americans, four Britons, including tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, and a Canadian were initially unaccounted for following the tragedy, which occurred between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time, according to Italian media reports.

The 160-foot yacht , Bayesian , sank off the coast of Palermo with 22 on board, including ten crew and 12 tourists, said Italian news agency ANSA . Tourists from New Zealand, France and Sri Lanka are also believed to be among the passengers.

The body of a man, the only personconfirmed dead, was retrieved next to the sunken yacht on Monday, ANSA reported. Palermo's coastguard identified him later that evening as the ship's cook. He has not been formally identified.

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was among those missing, and his wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 rescued, Reuters and PA news reported.

Raised in the U.K. county of Essex, Lynch created tech company Autonomy in 1996 and sold it for $11 billion to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. A year later, the U.S. company took an $8.8 billion writedown in the firm's value after discovering "serious accounting improprieties" at Autonomy and accused Lynch of perpetrating a $5 billion fraud. Earlier this year, Lynch was cleared of all fraud charges in the HP trial.

The tornado struck off Porticello, about 12 miles from the city of Palermo. Witnesses told ANSA that the $18 million yacht was still near the Porticello harbor with the sail down when a violent storm hit the area and engulfed the sailing boat.

The boat sank and the wreck is now over 164 feet deep at the bottom of the sea, reported Italian news media, including ANSA and Il Post .

Fifteen have so far been rescued and taken to hospitals in the Sicilian city, including a one-year-old child who was taken to Palermo's children's hospital.

The 35-year-old British mother of the one-year old child told ANSA: "For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea." She was able to find her again, and kept her safe during the storm: "I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was in a tempest. Many people screamed. Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us were able to get on board," she said.

Crew members and passengers were first rescued by a nearby sailing boat, the Sir Robert BP, and later by the Italian Coast Guard, according to the Il Post .

Rescue operations continue in the area with the involvement of four vessels and a helicopter from the Italian Coast Guard, as well as professional divers.

Authorities suspect that some of the missing people may have been in their cabins when the yacht was struck by the freak tornado and might have been trapped there.

A video shared on social media by Italian authorities shows the Coast Guard's vessels during rescue operations after the incident. The sea appears relatively calm after the sudden storm earlier this morning.

Another clip shared on X shows a helicopter flying over the area and divers trying to reach the wreck.

The yacht, Bayesian , was built in 2008 and refitted in 2020 by Italy's Perini Navi. It had the world's second tallest mast and largest aluminum mast at 246 feet.

Sicilian news channel TRM Web Sicilia reported that the yacht ran luxury cruises across the Mediterranean Sea. The Bayesian had left the harbor in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, before passing the Strait of Gibraltar. The last destination before reaching the Porticello harbor had been Milazzo, another town in Sicily.

Update, 8/19/24 7:20 a.m. ET: This breaking news article was updated to offer more details on the incident.

Update, 8/19/24 10:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add that Mike Lynch is among those missing.

Correction: 8/20/24, 7:25 a.m. ET: The person confirmed dead was a crew member, not a passenger as previously stated.

Update: 8/20/24, 7:25 a.m. ET: More details have been added about the person confirmed dead.

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