Share and Follow
Salvage experts successfully hoisted Mike Lynch’s luxurious yacht from the seabed on Friday, almost a year after it sank near Sicily, resulting in the tragic deaths of the British tech magnate, his daughter, and five others.
The salvage operation’s lead company, TMC Marine, announced that the vessel is expected to be completely raised from the water during the final recovery phase on Saturday.
A statement released by TMC Marine mentioned, “Due to the rapid progress in the salvage efforts off the northern Sicilian coast, all necessary preparations are on the verge of completion in anticipation of the intricate lifting process.”
The work was briefly halted last month after the death of a diver involved in the operation.
The 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 73 miles per hour, an interim UK report said last month.
The recovery process has been made easier after the vessel’s 236-foot 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.