Divers today searched the wreck of a sailing ship in Sicily, whose sinking yesterday in a sudden storm claimed the life of one person while six others are missing, including the British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, his close associates and members of their families.

The Bayesian, a 56m British-flagged yacht, sank on the night of Sunday to Monday off Porticello, a seaside town about 15km east of Palermo, whose bay welcomes a number of luxury yachts at this time of year recreation.

The Bayesian, which had been anchored about 700 meters offshore, found itself in the path of a sea siphon, a phenomenon increasingly seen in Europe in recent years, which literally capsized and sank it in minutes.

Twelve passengers and ten crew members, most of them British nationals, were on board.

According to a source close to the businessman, Mike Lynch had organized the cruise to celebrate with family members, some of his employees and his lawyers his acquittal in June in a US fraud case.

Known by the nickname “the British Bill Gates”, Michael Lynch is missing, as is his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. His wife Angela Bakaris was rescued, as were 14 other people.

Only one body has been recovered so far. According to the Italian press, this is the chef of the yacht, who was born in Canada, but is a citizen of Antigua.

Firefighters with deep-sea diving training arrived last night with the aim of locating and recovering the six missing people who are believed to be still trapped in the wreckage.

But divers were unable to immediately enter the interior of the wreck, which lies at a depth of 49 meters, “due to the presence of furniture blocking entry,” firefighters explained on social media X.

Once they manage to get in, “spaces are very limited and if you encounter an obstacle, it is very difficult to move forward and find alternative paths“, a spokesman for the firefighters, Luca Cari, explained to AFP.

Considering the depth, each dive is limited to just 8-12 minutes and today at noon the waves were bigger, making operations even more complicated, according to an AFPTV reporter.

The tragedy was as sudden as it was unexpected.

“It is unprecedented. It is a rare event (…) that has a very strong impact, but a small chance of happeningMatthew Skunk, head of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, a company specializing in rescue operations at sea, told AFP.

“We didn’t see that coming,” said rescued boat captain James Catfield, according to reports.

“It was no ordinary storm. What did the captain say, that he didn’t see the cyclone coming? That’s right, no one saw him comingSalvatore Igillo, a fisherman from Porticello, told La Stampa newspaper.

“All hell broke loose, we didn’t understand anything, first the wind, then the water, it was definitely a tornadoGiovanni Lococo, a local fisherman, described to AFPTV.

Security cameras at a building on the coast show tables, chairs and even a shipping container blown away.

Charlotte Golanski, age 35, a partner in one of Mike Lynch’s businesses was invited to the celebration. He was rescued along with five other people.

“It lasted a few minutes, the ship began to spin, then rose to a vertical position”, recalled Golanski, who at the last moment managed to grab her one-year-old daughter Sofia and save her.

Carsten Borner, the skipper of another yacht anchored nearby at the time of the storm, spoke of a “very strong gust of cyclone” and explained that he had to fight to keep his ship steady before rushing to help Bayesian’s passengers.

Jonathan Blumer, chairman of the board of Morgan Stanley International, a subsidiary of US bank and insurer Hiscox, and his wife are among the missing, according to a Hiscox press release.

Chris Morvillo, a Clifford Chance lawyer who defended Mike Lynch in the US trial, is also missing, as is his wife, the law firm confirmed.