Bayesian superyacht wreck may be RAISED from seabed with missing Hannah Lynch’s body still on board, officials say
THE BAYESIAN wreck could be raised from the seabed amid the gruelling search for missing Brit teen Hannah Lynch.
Italian officials today said a decision on whether or not they dredge up the sunken yacht has yet to be made.
The almost completely intact wreck is lying on its side some 160ft underwater off the coast of Porticello, Sicily.
Answering questions about whether it will be dragged from the sea, coastguard official Vincenzo Zagarola told Sky: “This is not a topic on the agenda. It will be, but not now.”
Raising it will help officials who want to investigate how the crash happened understand more about the structure of the yacht.
They have already discovered that the keel – a stabilising fin-like backbone underneath the vessel usually lowered for balance in deep waters – had been taken up before it sank.
Mr Zagarola also said that divers believe the remaining missing passenger – 18-year-old Hannah – is trapped inside the boat.
This is where rescuers recovered the five other tourists on Wednesday and this morning, when they found Hannah’s dad, Brit billionaire tycoon Mike Lynch.
Italian interior ministry official Massimo Mariani has said the teen may have been thrown into the sea as the boat sank on Monday morning.
Luca Cari, spokesman for the fire brigade working to find her said they would “need a crystal ball” to know if and when the body will be found.
And he warned: “It’s very difficult to move inside the wreckage. Moving just one metre can take up to 24 hours.”
It comes as…
- Mike Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, presumed missing after five bodies found on the wreck reportedly identified
- Lynch’s shell-shocked wife revealed how she was awoken by a ’tilt’ as the yacht sank
- The captain of the Bayesian broke his silence on the horror storm and was quizzed by cops for over two hours
- Experts believe the yacht’s ‘tallest mast in the world‘ may have contributed to the disaster after a freak ‘Black Swan’ weather event struck
- Pictures showed the tiny raft that saved up to 15 people
- Frantic text messages from the survivors revealed the chaos
The identities of the missing five were confirmed by an official on the ground on Thursday morning, according to reports.
They included Jonathan and Judy Bloomer and Chris and Neda Morvillo.
At least two were found trapped inside their cabin, behind a mattress, local media reported.
The luxury Bayesian, with the world’s second tallest mast at 246ft, was caught up in stormy weather in the Porticello Harbour on Monday morning.
Witnesses who watched the horror from a smaller boat nearby said the mast was hit by a twister – or waterspout – causing it to capsize, take on water and plunge under the surface.
Prosecutors from the nearby town of Termini Imerese spent more than two hours quizzing Kiwi Captain James Cutfield, 51, about the tragedy this week.
And the CEO of the firm that manufactured the superyacht, Giovanni Costantino, claimed the vessel is “unsinkable”.