PORTICELLO, Sicily — Divers searching for six missing people from a superyacht which sank off the coast of Sicily told NBC News Wednesday that debris inside the vessel, as well as its depth, were making their job difficult.
As hopes of finding anyone alive dwindled, the divers said that they had managed to force open one of the Bayesian’s access doors but access to the cabins where people could be trapped was being hampered by detritus.
The divers, who were not authorized to speak publicly, added that the depth of the wreck meant they were left with only 10 minutes to search the 184-foot yacht once they reached it. Then they had to return to the surface, they said.
On Wednesday, the dock where they set off from was swarming with vehicles, boats and rescuers. Nearby tourists, reporters and photographers have gathered, eager for news. Helicopters occasionally fly over the area.
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and five of the 22 other people who were aboard the yacht remain unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped in the Bayesian’s hull, nearly 170 feet underwater.
Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah; Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, are also missing.
Officials confirmed Monday that at least one person, the ship’s cook, had died.
Rescuers said Tuesday that there might be people trapped inside the cabins, especially considering the timing of the storm, but that they had so far been unable to check through the ship’s portholes.
“The operations are long and complex,” Italy’s national fire department, whose diving teams have been participating in the search, said on X.
Italy's coast guard also said Tuesday that divers were also using a remotely-operated underwater vehicle to aid in the search.
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 near Sicily’s main city of Palermo in what Italian officials called a “violent storm.”
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.
Lynch, who was regularly described in U.K. media as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” 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 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.
The Mediterranean sailing vacation was designed to be a celebration for Lynch, who brought Morvillo, one of his U.S. lawyers and Bloomer, who testified in his defense, on the trip.
Bloomer’s twin brother, Jeremy, told the BBC on Tuesday the family was “coping the best we can” and he was hopeful there might still be air pockets inside the hull.
Chamberlain was not aboard 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.
Claudio Lavanga and Claudia Rizzo reported from Porticello and Yuliya Talmazan from London.
