Nearly a year after she sank, the hull of the sailing superyacht Bayesian is on land. Several weeks of effort at the site of the sinking, not far from shore in Sicily, allowed the Bayesian salvage team to transfer her to a specially made steel cradle in Termini Imerese. While it’s the conclusion of the long-planned salvage operation, it’s the beginning of a more thorough investigation into what caused the 184-foot (56-meter) yacht to sink, leading to the deaths of seven people.
While the crews raising Bayesian expected to lift her to the surface on June 21, they succeeded in initially doing so the morning of June 20. One of two heavy-duty crane barges on site brought her partly out of the water for about two hours. TMC Marine, coordinating the effort, continued detailed preparations for the full lifting procedure, plus final checks and adjustments. Complete raising occurred the following day, with salvage crews pumping sea water out from the hull. The heavy-lift crane that retrieved her kept her aloft, permitting crews to finish checks before heading to Termini Imerese. “The salvage team has progressed in a systematic way that prioritized the safety of all working on site and minimized any potential impact on the environment,” says Marcus Cave, head of naval architecture and a director for TMC Marine.
Bayesian raised without her mast. Crews removed it days prior to securing eight lifting straps around the sunken yacht, leaving it on the seabed. TMC Marine determined that removing the mast would allow lifting the hull, which laid on its starboard side, to a better upright position. The mast still remains on the seabed, for retrieval at a later date. (EDITOR’S NOTE: TMC Marine retrieved it and transported it to shore on June 25, along with deck furniture and other items belonging to the yacht that had scattered on the seabed.)
Ultimately, Bayesian has finally resurfaced almost 10 months to the day that she sank. On August 18, 2024, the superyacht had anchored about 984 feet (300 meters) from shore in the Sicilian village of Porticello, between Palermo and Cefalu. The owners, Mike Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares, were aboard with their daughter Hannah plus several business associates and friends. So, too, were the captain and nine crewmembers. Around 4 a.m. on August 19, security cameras on land captured a sudden, dramatic storm and the yacht’s mast lights going dark. By 4:30 a.m., Bayesian sank in about 164 feet (50 meters) of water.
In coordination with Italian Coast Guard and port authorities, crews anticipated beginning the Bayesian salvage this past January. However, sea conditions during the winter months weren’t favorable. They therefore postponed plans until this spring. Since vessel-recovery operations are quite complex, a lot of preparatory work occurred before the salvage team could get to this point. Here’s how it unfolded, starting with the sinking of the superyacht.
AUGUST 19, 2024: Around 5 a.m., search-and-rescue personnel respond to reports of the sinking. They include divers and teams in a helicopter. Upon arrival to the sinking site, they realize the yacht is beneath the surface. Another nearby yacht, whose crew also encountered the sudden storm, had already assisted 15 people who escaped in a liferaft. Bacares is among those who escaped, as are five other passengers, the captain, and eight of the nine crewmembers. Search-and-rescue personnel transfer the 15 individuals to shore. Seven people, though, are still missing. Searchers find the body of Recaldo Thomas, Bayesian’s chef, toward the afternoon.
AUGUST 21, 2024: Searchers recover four bodies from Bayesian, Jonathan and Judy Bloomer as well as Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda. Jonathan Bloomer was chairman of Morgan Stanley International and chair of the insurance company Hiscox. Judy Bloomer was a former trustee for the UK charity The Eve Appeal, focused on gynecological cancers. Both were British nationals. Chris Morvillo was a partner at the law firm Clifford Chance, and his wife Neda was a jewelry designer. The Morvillos were American.
AUGUST 23-24, 2024: Divers recover the body of Hannah Lynch, having recovered Mike Lynch’s body on August 22. They are the last remaining unaccounted-for people from the yacht. The next day, the public prosecutor’s office in Termini Imerese, the jurisdiction governing the yacht’s anchorage, confirms a sudden, rapid storm occurred on August 19. It further reveals that a downburst likely hit Bayesian. Downbursts descend from thunderstorms and spread out rapidly once hitting the ground. They additionally can cause damage similar to that of tornadoes.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2024 (approximate): Italian naval deep-dive specialists begin searching Bayesian for possible clues as to why she sank. The work includes whether hatches or doors were left open.
OCTOBER 3, 2024: Divers confirm that the port-side boarding hatch is not open, countering an earlier claim made by Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group. The Italian Sea Group owns Perini Navi, which built Bayesian as Salute in 2008. Furthermore, the divers’ report corresponds to a photo from Capt. Karsten Borner (left), taken a few minutes before Bayesian sank. Borner’s yacht was anchored near Bayesian and survived the storm, as did Borner and his crew.
MAY 4, 2025: The Bayesian salvage begins, with two large-capacity floating cranes and an assortment of remote-controlled underwater equipment. Italian officials estimate that the operations will take nearly one month to conclude. To trap fuel or other contaminants that could rise to the surface, anti-pollution booms create a perimeter.
MAY 9, 2025: A salvage diver dies during underwater work. Operations for the Bayesian salvage therefore stop temporarily, for nearly a week. (As of press time, Italian authorities still haven’t revealed the diver’s cause of death.)
MAY 15, 2025: An interim report on the Bayesian sinking finds that sudden, violent winds forced the yacht beyond a recoverable heeling angle. The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) indicates that in a quickly worsening storm, winds abruptly rose in excess of 70 knots. The MAIB is involved because Bayesian flies the British flag. “At 0406, Bayesian violently heeled over to 90° to starboard, taking less than 15 seconds to do so,” investigators state. Once water came over the starboard rails, it entered the interior down stairways within seconds. By 4:24 a.m., the yacht had sunk. The MAIB’s final report is expected later this year, after its investigators examine the salvaged yacht.
MAY 20, 2025: The Bayesian salvage crews recover the main boom and anchor. Salvors cut the boom, a sail, and furling gear near the mast on May 18, subsequently lifting them onto the surface platform. Her rigging, mast, spreaders, and remaining sails remain, for later salvage. A remote-controlled submersible, meanwhile, assists in cutting one of Bayesian’s anchor chains. This permits crews to recover both the anchor and the chain from the seabed, then transfer them to Termini Imerese. Previously, they secured Bayesian’s tank vents and openings, to reduce potential pollution during upcoming operations. Notably, no fuel or other pollutants had emerged. Lastly, crews begin positioning the first of eight steel lifting slings under the superyacht. These and associated gear will handle the raising.
JUNE 3, 2025: Four of the overall eight lifting lines are in place. Specifically, the four that run under the bow are set. Crews continue putting the remaining four straps under Bayesian’s stern, a complex process. Primarily, it’s because of her position and the clay composition of the seabed. All of the work is via remote-controlled submersible equipment, managed from the two floating work platforms on the surface. Furthermore, a specially made steel cradle goes in place in Termini Imerese. It’s for holding Bayesian once she comes to shore.
JUNE 11, 2025: Salvors confirm that the week prior, they complete a 360-degree visual survey of the seabed via remote-controlled submersible equipment. The intent was to identify and recover anything that may have dislocated from the yacht, out to a 20-meter (nearly 66-foot) radius. Overall, they recover 17 items, including a liferaft casing and deck furniture.
JUNE 17, 2025: A remote-controlled cutting tool removes Bayesian’s mast. Immediately following, crews partially lift and rotate the yacht nearly upright via the lifting straps. The yacht remains held in this position in preparation for lifting to the surface, planned for June 21. Salvors intend to recover the mast once they lift the yacht to the surface.
JUNE 20, 2025: Bayesian raises successfully to the surface a day ahead of schedule. As a precaution, pollution booms remain encircling the barges. Since recovery work began, no fuel has emanated from the yacht. If weather conditions remain favorable, the yacht will transfer to the custom cradle on land by June 23, based on prior plans.
Italian authorities are still conducting a criminal investigation, in keeping with all marine accidents in its territorial waters. Despite some published reports to the contrary, an investigation in Italy doesn’t imply guilt or formal charges will follow.
Perini Navi launched Bayesian in 2008 as Salute. She was among the first deliveries in its successful 56M series. The series featured design by the in-house team and naval architect Ron Holland. As such, she accommodated 12 passengers and 10 crew. Making her different from her sisterships, though, she had a 246-foot-tall (75-meter-tall) mast. It was the world’s tallest aluminum mast.
(Editor’s note: this article was originally published on June 20, 2025, updated on June 23 & 30)
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