Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 20, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleMike Lynch's superyacht is being raised in Sicily after sinking in a storm, killing seven. The final lift is scheduled, with authorities investigating.
PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) -Salvage experts winched Mike Lynch's sunken superyacht towards the surface on Friday, 10 months after it went down off the coast of Sicily, killing the British tech tycoon, his teenage daughter and five others.
The vessel is scheduled to be lifted out of the water in the final phase of the recovery on Saturday, TMC Marine, the company leading the salvage operation, said.
"Accelerated progress in salvage works off the coast of northern Sicily mean that all preparations are now nearing completion, ahead of the delicate lifting procedure," the statement said.
The work was briefly halted last month after the death of a diver involved in the operation.
The 56-metre-long (184-foot) Bayesian was moored off the small port of Porticello, near Palermo, in August last year when it sank during a sudden storm.
The yacht was vulnerable to violent winds and was probably knocked over by gusts of more than 117 km (73 miles) per hour, an interim UK report said last month.
The recovery process has been made easier after the vessel's 72-metre mast was detached using a remote-controlled cutting tool and placed on the seabed on Tuesday.
The hull of the yacht has been supported by a specially designed steel wire lifting arrangement which is, in turn, attached to a floating lifting asset. The vessel is between two barges supplied by Hebo Maritimeservice, a Dutch specialist salvage company.
The salvage experts are now reinforcing the cables because the yacht will be heavier once pulled out of the water, a source at the Italian coast guard said.
The yacht is expected to be transported to the nearby port of Termini Imerese on Monday and handed over to the authorities who are investigating the tragedy.
Lynch's daughter Hannah, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and chef Recaldo Thomas were killed when the yacht sank. Nine other crew members and six guests were rescued.
(Reporting by Wladimir Pantaleone, writing by Keith Weir and Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Giulia Segreti and Andrew Heavens)
Mike Lynch's superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a sudden storm, resulting in the tragic deaths of several individuals onboard.
The final lift of the yacht is scheduled for Saturday, following a 10-month salvage operation.
The yacht was likely knocked over by violent winds exceeding 117 km/h (73 mph), as indicated by an interim UK report.
Preparations included detaching the yacht's 72-metre mast and reinforcing cables to support the hull during the lifting process.
After recovery, the yacht is expected to be transported to the nearby port of Termini Imerese for investigation by authorities.
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