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MISSING: British Tech Entrepreneur and HP Nemesis
Mike Lynch Disappears After Yacht’s Sinking in Italy.
British Tech Entrepreneur Mike Lynch Missing After Yacht’s Sinking. A man has died and six people are missing after a UK-flagged superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a tornado. Among the missing is prominent British businessman Mike Lynch.Tonernews.com has learned that Lynch, a renowned technology tycoon known as the “British Bill Gates,” owned the 56-meter (183-ft) superyacht, named Bayesian. Lynch has recently been in the news due to a high-profile fraud case. In June, he was acquitted by a US jury of charges related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
The superyacht, which had 22 people on board, sank near Palermo around 4:30 AM local time (3:30 AM UK time) on Monday. Most of those on board were reportedly British, including a mother and her one-year-old daughter who were among the 15 people rescued. The mother recounted the ordeal to the Giornale Di Sicilia, saying she lost sight of her baby in the sea for a brief moment before regaining hold of her amidst the stormy waves. She was later treated for a chest injury.
Divers involved in the rescue operation reported seeing “corpses through the portholes” of the wrecked vessel, with one man’s body recovered from a depth of approximately 50 meters (163 ft), according to Salvo Cocina, head of the Civil Protection of Sicily. The nationality of the deceased has not yet been confirmed.
The yacht was anchored off Porticello when it capsized, according to ship-tracking site Marine Traffic. The vessel had passengers from Britain, America, and Canada, with additional reports indicating individuals from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and British-French citizens were also aboard.
Local fisherman Pietro Asciutto described witnessing the tornado and the yacht’s sudden disappearance. “I saw the boat, it had only one mast and was very big. It sank quickly,” he said. Another fisherman, Fabio Cefalu, reported seeing a flare and later finding only the wreckage of the boat. Rescue efforts were launched shortly after.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has stated they are in contact with local authorities and are ready to assist British nationals affected by the incident.
Camper and Nicholsons, which managed the yacht, confirmed the vessel sank around 4:30 AM local time, with a total of 12 guests and 10 crew members on board. The Italian Coast Guard is leading the search and rescue efforts, having recovered 15 individuals so far. The search continues for the seven missing persons, with efforts focused on providing support to the rescued passengers and crew. More on this developing story, here.
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