First major piece of Bayesian superyacht recovered from seabed
The multi-purpose floating work barge Hebo Lift 2 monitors the stretch of sea off Porticello
Rome (CNN) — Salvage crews have recovered the boom from the $40 million Bayesian luxury yacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily in August 2024, killing seven people, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
The boom, a long pole that controls the sail, was connected to the 72-meter (236-foot) mast, which is one of the tallest on any sailboat. It is the first known piece of debris from the Bayesian to be lifted from the water.
Divers working on the salvage operation used diamond cutting wire to remove the boom, sail and furling gear near the mast. They used a remote-controlled submersible to cut one of the yacht’s anchor chains which allowed the anchor, chain and boom to be brought to the surface. The recovered items will be taken to the port of Termini Imerese where they will be sequestered for examination.
On May 9, a 39-year-old Dutch specialist diver Robcornelis Maria Huijben Uiben died in an underwater explosion when trying to detach the boom, Italian Coast Guard officials said. The boom’s recovery will be part of the forensic investigation into the diver’s death, officials told CNN.
TMC Marine, which is overseeing the operation, told CNN in a statement that the project has changed since the tragic incident.
Marcus Cave, a director of TMC Marine, said: “The team has developed alternate methods to undertake certain tasks… This will minimize diving activity and increase the use of equipment that is controlled directly from the floating work platforms. Whilst this change will increase the time it will take to complete this project; it will continue to prioritize the safety of those working on this complex lifting and recovery operation.”
The 55.9 meter (184-foot) yacht, which still has 18,000 liters of fuel onboard, went down in a sudden storm on August 19 while moored near Porticello, Sicily near Palermo.
Fifteen people, including nine crew members, survived.
British investigators, who were on the scene days after the accident, published a “desktop” report last week in which they concluded that the ship sank due to structural problems with the vessel.
Italian investigators have publicly dismissed the findings and have told local reporters that until the vessel can be examined once out of the water, no conclusion into the cause of the sinking can be determined. The ship is lying on its starboard side on the seabed, meaning no images have been taken of that part of the vessel to determine its condition.
An official with Smit Salvage, which is part of the team led by TMC Marine, told CNN that the hatches appear open, meaning the crew may not have battened them down as the storm approached. One of the crew members posted a video of the storm in the distance, which investigators say shows that they were aware of the weather, according to the British report.
Currently, work is being done to secure the vessel’s vents and openings and to reduce any unforeseen leakage and pollution during the recovery. Work has also begun to position the steel lifting slings that will be used to secure and lift the Bayesian.
No one has been charged with any criminal culpability in the accident, but the ship’s captain James Cutfield and two other crew members are under investigation for their role in the deaths of the passengers, which included one crew member.
The vessel is thought to contain watertight safes in which Lynch kept highly encrypted hard drives. Investigators have told CNN that they cannot verify the existence of any safes or contents until the ship is brought out of the water.
The timetable to lift the yacht from the 50-meter deep seabed originally stated that the mast and boom would be left on the seabed until after the hull of the luxury yacht is lifted. The boom was instead brought out first to aid in the investigation into the diver’s death. It is unclear when the mast, which is being cut from the vessel, will be pulled from the water.
The hull of the yacht is scheduled to be brought up between May 26 and May 28, weather permitting. A full report is expected by the end of the summer.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
