Specialist divers continue to search for the six people aboard the luxury superyacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning. As efforts continue, questions are being raised about why the ultra-luxurious and expensive vessel sank.

According to the vessel tracking application Vesselfinderthe vessel left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on August 14 and was last spotted east of Palermo on Sunday afternoon, with a navigation status of “anchored”.

The most likely scenario is that the yacht was hit by a tornado over the water – otherwise the phenomenon is called a waterspout – causing it to capsize.

There are reports that the vessel’s mast broke during the terrible storm while other factors that contributed to its sinking include water entering through hatches and doors that were left open due to the heat off the Italian coast.

Witnesses described seeing a waterspout form during the storm before the Bayesian sank.

According to BBC Weather, waterspouts are like tornadoes, but over water rather than land.

Instead of dust and debris swirling around the core of the strong winds, a water mist is created that rises from the surface of the sea.

The phenomenon is common in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer and into autumn, when sea temperatures are at their highest.

However, with sea temperatures rising due to climate change, there is concern that they could become more common.

Over the past week, the Mediterranean has had its warmest sea surface temperature on record, which helped fuel this recent storm outbreak.

Did the mast break?

Bayesian was built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008 and last overhauled in 2020.

According to Perini’s website, Bayesian has a mast of 75 meters, the tallest in the world.

The captain of another yacht moored nearby at the time of the storm said there was a “very strong gust” and he had to fight to keep his boat afloat.

He even said he saw the Bayesian web “bend and then go,” according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

However, Marco Tilotta, from the Palermo fire service’s diving unit, told AFP that the ship that had gone down on its side was lying on its side undamaged.

Matthew Shank, president of the Maritime Search and Rescue Board, explained that it is difficult to tell whether the mast broke.

“The evidence we have from the divers is that the boat is intact, turned on its side,” he told the BBC, adding that the boats are not designed to sail in such weather.