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CCTV video appears to show the moment the "Bayesian" yacht disappears as it capsizes in Palermo, Italy. Aug. 20, 2024

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Video shows luxury yacht sinking near Sicily as search for missing continues

Rescue crews are racing to find six missing people after a luxury yacht with 22 people onboard sank 160 feet down to the sea floor off the coast of Italy during a violent storm.

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Breaking news, dramatic video captures the moment superyacht sinks off italian coast.

Dramatic footage has emerged of the moment a 130-foot superyacht capsized off the Italian coast over the weekend, sinking stern-first into the water.

The video, released by the coast guard, showed the yacht named My Saga struggling against the waves before sinking near the Catanzaro Marina on Saturday.

Officials confirmed that nine people were rescued from the sinking vessel.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Designed by naval architect Tim Heywood , My Saga was built in Italy in 2007. At the time of the incident, the boat was en route from Gallipoli to Milazzo under a Cayman Islands flag.

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CCTV footage shows moments before superyacht capsizes off coast of Sicily

Divers face a complex operation as they struggle to access the cabins, inside the wreckage of the Bayesian and new CCTV footage has emerged of the last moments of the vessel being battered by a storm.

Wednesday 21 August 2024 08:23, UK

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Dramatic video shows 130ft superyacht sinking off Italy coast after being battered in storm

Nine people rescued before boat went under, article bookmarked.

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Dramatic footage has captured the moment a 40-metre superyacht sank into the Mediterranean sea after being battered in a storm.

The 40-metre-long luxury vessel was sailing from Gallipoli to Milazzo overnight on Saturday when it got into trouble around 15km from Italy’s Catanzaro Marina.

Footage shows the yacht, named My Saga, rapidly disappearing beneath waves, as lifeboats appear to float beside it.

The captain sent out a distress call to the Port Authority of Crotone, with officials told the yacht was taking on a significant amount of water from the stern.

The Italian coastguard dispatched two patrol vessels and rescued all four passengers and five crew members on board.

A tugboat sent out at dawn was unable to save the superyacht from sinking because of worsening weather conditions, the Super Yacht Times reports. The Saga finally sank at around 1pm on Sunday.

The outlet reports the yacht, which was built in Monaco back in 2007, was flying under the Cayman Islands flag with an all-Italian crew when it sunk.

An investigation has been launched into the cause.

It comes after a £6 million superyacht sunk after it went up in flames in the UK on the Torquay harbourside.

The 85ft vessel was consumed by fire , with thick black smoking billowing into the sky.

The yacht reportedly drifted out into the harbour after the fire burnt through ropes securing it to the pier, but the vessel was later secured by the fire service.

A fire service statement revealed that the vessel contained approximately 8000 litres of diesel fuel.

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Video shows moment Bayesian superyacht sinks during ferocious storm off Sicilian coast

A new video obtained from cctv footage in porticello, facing the sea, shows the storm unfolding and the moment the bayesian went down. italian coast guard teams have located five victims since the yacht sank and continue to searched for one more missing person..

Video shows Bayesian yacht sinking in ferocious storm off Italian coast

Video footage obtained by Giornale Di Sicilia shows a view from Porticello, Sicily facing the sea as the storm unfolds and the moment the Bayesian superyacht went under the waves.

Video captured the power of the ferocious storm off the Sicilian coast responsible for sinking the Bayesian, a U.K.-flagged superyacht on Monday and claiming the lives of at least five people onboard.

The 180-foot yacht owned by Angela Bacares, wife of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, was anchored off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when a severe thunderstorm quickly rolled in. According to the Italian Department of Civil Protection, rain and thunderstorms with strong wind gusts were forecast over parts of Sicily through the weekend. 

A new video from CCTV footage in Porticello, facing the sea, shows the storm unfolding and the moment the Bayesian went down. 

At the start of the 1-minute, 30-second clip, the bright and tall mast of the Bayesian is seen in the background, with smaller boats in the foreground. 

Lights of the Bayesian mast seen in the background as a storm unfolds in Porticello, Sicily on Aug. 19, 2024.

(GIORNALE DI SICILIA)

A few seconds into the video, the rain picks up. After 20 seconds, the wind is so ferocious that it can be heard howling on the video, and a torrential downpour obscures the view in front of the camera. By 1 minute, the lights of the ship’s mast are no longer visible.

Multiple Italian officials and news outlets have reported seeing a waterspout during the storm and when the Bayesian was in distress. 

Another video captured on CCTV from a cocktail bar in Porticello shows the violent storm tossing around patio furniture. Within a few minutes, strong gusts of wind and rain blew over plants, pushing tables and chairs from the camera's view.

Strong winds whip tables, chairs in Porticello during severe thunderstorm

CCTV footage from the BAIA bar in Porticello is time-stamped at just after 4 a.m. local time on Monday, around the same time when the Bayesian yacht sank and a strong storm passed through the area. 

The video from the Baia cocktail bar was recorded around 4 a.m. when the Bayesian was seen sinking off the coast.

Fifteen people were rescued from the sea. Five bodies have been recovered from the wreckage, one on the day of the storm and four more on Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, Italian Coast Guard specialized teams were able to access the yacht, now 160 feet beneath the sea. Search crews were looking for the bodies of six people, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Two Americans and two Canadians are also among the missing. The bodies of the four people found on Wednesday have not been identified.

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WATCH: Superyacht Capsizes and Sinks Off the Coast of Southern Italy in Shocking Video

It is unknown what caused the 40-meter-long vessel called "My Saga" to go under

Natalia Senanayake is an Editorial Assistant, Lifestyle at PEOPLE. She covers all things travel and home, from celebrities' luxury mansions to breaking travel news.

A 40-meter-long (131-foot) superyacht capsized nine miles off the coast of Catanzaro, Italy on Saturday.

Shocking footage released by the Italian coast guard shows the vessel, named My Saga, sinking stern-first near the Catanzaro Marina.

According to the BBC , "the Italian coast guard rescued all nine people on board – four passengers and five crew. The outlet reported the ship was heading from Gallipoli to Milazzo.

An investigation of the incident is ongoing and it is still unclear what caused the yacht to sink.

In the video tweeted by the Italian coast guard, the yacht is seen floating on its side amid rough waters before its rear starts dipping into the Ionian Sea.

The footage cuts to the vessel then halfway submerged in the water before it quickly vanishes beneath the surface.

Along with the video, the coast guard wrote a caption. Translated from Italian it reads, "In recent days, the #GuardiaCostiera of #Crotone coordinated rescue operations for passengers and crew of a 40m yacht, which sank 9 miles off the coast of #CatanzaroMarina. Administrative investigation was launched to identify the causes."

My Saga was designed by Tim Heywood and Jean-Marc Achy. It was equipped "with a teak deck, a steel hull, and aluminum superstructure," according to the London-based luxury lifestyle publisher, BOAT International .

The superyacht boasted six cabins that could accommodate up to 12 guests and eight crew members.

Related Articles

Dramatic video captures the moment a massive 40-meter superyacht sank off the coast of Italy

• A superyacht sunk off the coast of Southern Italy over the weekend.
• Video of the boat's demise showed the ship sinking stern-first with its bow straight in the air.
• The Italian Coast Guard rescued nine people from the ship before it submerged.

A superyacht measuring nearly 130 feet sunk off the coast of southern Italy on Saturday, after members of the Italian Coast Guard rescued nine people from the submerging ship.

This weekend, the Italian press reported that the 39.4-meter motor yacht named "My Saga" sunk off the coast of Catanzaro Marina.

Video from the scene shows the massive boat teetering into the water before fully sinking stern-first.

—Sky News (@SkyNews) August 22, 2022

Sky News reported that worsening weather conditions rendered it impossible for a rescue tugboat to bring the yacht to safety.

An investigation into what caused the ship to sink is underway, the outlet reported. 

The yacht was built in Italy in 2007, according to Super Yacht Times, and was traveling from Gallipoli to Milazzo under a Cayman Islands flag with a full Italian crew when it sunk. 

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Moment luxury yacht sinks off coast of Italy caught on camera, with 6 presumed dead

British tech entrepreneur mike lynch, morgan stanley international chairman jonathan bloomer among missing.

Grainy CCTV footage shows the moment a storm struck the Bayesian luxury yacht, which sank Aug. 19, 2024, off the coast of Italy. Six people are missing, officials say. (Giornale di Sicilia)

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer are presumed dead along with four others who were aboard a luxury superyacht that sank off the coast of Italy on Monday morning, according to a report.

Lynch and Bloomer were among the six people still missing, which include Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Bloomer’s wife Neda, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Judy, Italian coast guard officials said on Tuesday, per the Wall Street Journal.

The Bayesian, a 184-foot British-flagged yacht, was moored about a half-mile offshore when a storm rolled in before 4 a.m. Monday. Civil protection officials said they believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.

Grainy film from closed-circuit cameras from shore, broadcast on the website of the Giornale di Sicilia, showed the illuminated 246-foot mast of the Bayesian weathering the storm and then disappear over the course of a minute.

MORGAN STANLEY INTERNATIONAL CHAIRMAN, WIFE AND 4 OTHERS STILL MISSING AFTER LUXURY YACHT SINKS OFF SICILY

Emergency services at the scene of the search for those missing after a yacht sank off the coast of southern Italy. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Lynch was once hailed as Britain’s king of technology. He was cleared in June of fraud and conspiracy charges in a U.S. federal trial related to Hewlett Packard’s $11 billion takeover of his company, Autonomy Corp. Lynch, those who helped defend him in the case and their families were celebrating his recent acquittal aboard the yacht.

British tech magnate Mike Lynch is presumed dead after a luxury superyacht sank off the coast of Italy on Monday. (AP Photo/Michael Liedtke, File)

Christopher Morvillo was one of Lynch’s lawyers, while Jonathan Bloomer testified in Lynch’s defense.

WHO IS MIKE LYNCH, THE BRITISH TECH ENTREPRENEUR MISSING AFTER YACHT SANK?

Ten crew members and 12 passengers, including British, American and Canadian nationals were onboard when the vessel capsized. One man's body was recovered, onboard chef Ricardo Thomas, an Antiguan citizen, and 15 people were rescued, including a 1-year-old girl, authorities said.

Scuba divers study a map of the sailing yacht Bayesian at the Porticello harbor as rescue teams and divers returned to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht Tuesday to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch. (Italian Firefighters via AP, HO)

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The Bayesian was owned by Lynch's wife, who survived the disaster.

Fox News’ Pilar Arias and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Video captures 130-foot superyacht sinking off southern coast of Italy

A superyacht sank off the southern coast of Italy over the weekend of Aug. 20 in a spectacular capsizing captured on video and shared on Twitter by the Italian coast guard.

The video compilation shows the My Saga , a roughly 130-foot boat, struggling against the waves before slowly sinking into the water.

The yacht was sailing from the town of Gallipoli to Milazzo, Sicily, on Aug. 20, local news outlets reported, when it began to take on water and eventually sank some hours later about nine nautical miles off the port of Catanzaro.

All crew members and passengers were rescued and uninjured, the coast guard said on Twitter. It said it launched an investigation to determine what happened.

Nei giorni scorsi, la #GuardiaCostiera di #Crotone ha coordinato operazioni di salvataggio di passeggeri ed equipaggio di uno yacht di 40m, affondato a 9 miglia al largo di #CatanzaroMarina . Avviata inchiesta amministrativa per individuarne le cause. #SAR #AlServizioDegliAltri pic.twitter.com/kezuiivqsM — Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) August 22, 2022

The My Saga first reported a problem on Aug. 20 after setting sail from Gallipoli , on Italy’s southeastern peninsula, according to the country’s National Associated Press Agency (ANSA). Patrol boats from the Italian coast guard in Crotone and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) were dispatched to the scene.

They found the ship taking on water from its stern. Five people — four passengers and a member of the crew — were initially rescued on a Romanian patrol boat acting on behalf of Frontex. They were then transferred to the coast guard boat and taken to Catanzaro.

According to an Italian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation, the My Saga flew a Cayman Islands flag and was owned by a Danish company. The group on board when the boat took on water included six Italian nationals, two Danish citizens and a South African national, the person said.

The owner contracted a towing company to attempt to rescue the ship, according to the official. A tugboat, the Alessandro Second, arrived and took the four remaining crew members — including the captain — onboard before beginning to tow the ship toward Crotone. But bad weather made the process difficult, as did the position of the yacht, which was tilted into the water.

Eventually, the tugboat abandoned the yacht, and it sank into the Gulf of Squillace. The coast guard took the remaining crew members to Catanzaro.

It’s not the first time a sinking yacht has captured attention on the internet. In May, rapper Cardi B posted footage on social media of a yacht sinking near her hotel while she was on vacation in an unknown location. The artist could be heard screaming as she asked whether there wasn’t a “big boat that could save it.” Eventually, she said “bye-bye” as it disappeared into the water. She later clarified that no one was onboard .

I can’t believe I’m actually watching a yacht sink pic.twitter.com/dLL3ZJJv9R — Cardi B (@iamcardib) May 28, 2022

The same month, passersby watched as another multimillion-dollar yacht, the Rendezvous, sank in Torquay Harbor, a marina in southwestern England, after a fire broke out onboard. Authorities warned of potential air and water pollution because the yacht carried about nine metric tons of diesel.

And earlier this month, the 145-foot Aria SF caught fire off the Balearic island of Formentera in Spain in an incident that was also captured on camera and shared widely on social media. Those onboard were evacuated, and no one was hurt, the Guardian reported . The roughly $23 million yacht had reportedly just been delivered to its owner.

Chico Harlan contributed to this report.

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Questions for Investigators Trying to Unravel Mystery of Luxury Yacht’s Sinking

The investigators searching for answers about the shipwreck, leaving seven dead, face questions about extreme weather and possible human error or problems with the yacht itself.

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By Alan Yuhas

More than 180 feet long, with a mast towering about 240 feet and a keel that could be lowered for greater stability, the Bayesian luxury yacht did not, in the eyes of its maker, have the vulnerabilities of a ship that would easily sink.

“It drives me insane,” Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which in 2022 bought the company that made the ship, said after its wreck last week. “Following all the proper procedures, that boat is unsinkable.”

But the $40 million sailing yacht sank within minutes and with fatal results: seven dead, including the British technology billionaire Michael Lynch, his teenage daughter, four of Mr. Lynch’s friends and a member of the crew. Fifteen people, including the captain, escaped on a lifeboat.

Mr. Lynch had invited family, friends and part of his legal team on a cruise in the Mediterranean to celebrate his acquittal in June of fraud charges tied to the sale of his company to the tech giant Hewlett-Packard.

The Italian authorities have opened a manslaughter investigation, searching for answers from the survivors, the manufacturer and the wreck itself. They face a range of questions and possible factors.

An ‘earthquake’ in the sky?

When the Bayesian sank around 4 a.m. on Aug. 19, the waters in its area, about half a mile off the Sicilian port of Porticello, were transformed by an extremely sudden and violent storm, according to fishermen, a captain in the area and meteorologists.

But what kind of storm is still a mystery, compounded by the fact that a sailing schooner anchored nearby did not have its own disaster. Also unclear is whether the crew was aware that the Italian authorities had issued general warnings about bad weather the night before.

Karsten Börner, the captain of the nearby passenger ship, said he’d had to steady his ship during “really violent” winds . During the storm, he said, the Bayesian seemed to disappear behind his ship.

Severe lightning and strong gusts were registered by the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, according to Attilio Di Diodato, its director. “It was very intense and brief in duration,” he said.

The yacht, he said, had most likely been hit by a fierce downburst — a blast of powerful wind surging down during a thunderstorm. His agency put out rough-sea warnings the previous evening, alerting sailors about possible storms.

Locals have said the winds “felt like an earthquake.” A fisherman in Porticello said that he had seen a flare go off in the early-morning hours. His brother ventured to the site once the weather had calmed about 20 minutes later, he said, finding only floating cushions.

The Italian authorities have so far declined to say whether investigators had seen any structural damage to the hull or other parts of the ship.

Open hatches or doors?

The boat executive, Mr. Costantino, has argued that the Bayesian was an extremely safe vessel that could list even to 75 degrees without capsizing. His company, the Italian Sea Group, in 2022 bought the yacht’s manufacturer, Perini Navi, which launched the ship in 2008.

Mr. Costantino said that if some of the hatches on the side and in the stern, or some of the deck doors, had been open, the boat could have taken on water and sunk. Standard procedure in such storms, he said, would be to switch on the engine, lift the anchor and turn the boat into the wind, lowering the keel for extra stability, closing doors and gathering the guests in the main hall inside the deck.

At a news conference on Saturday, almost a week after the sinking, investigators said the yacht had sunk at an angle , with its stern — where the heavy engine was — having gone down first. The wreck was found lying on its right side at the bottom of a bay, about 165 feet deep.

12 guests occupied the yacht’s six cabins. There were also 10 crew members.

Open hatches, doors and cabin windows could have let in water during a storm, according to the manufacturer.

Open hatches, doors and

cabin windows could

have let in water

during a storm,

according to the

manufacturer.

Source: Superyacht Times, YachtCharterFleet, MarineTraffic

By Veronica Penney

Water pouring into open hatches or doors could have contributed to the sinking, experts say, but that on its own may not account for the speed at which such a large boat vanished underwater.

Asked about the hatches at the news conference, the authorities declined to comment on whether they had been found open at the wreck.

The authorities have also not specified whether the boat had been anchored, whether it was under power at the time or whether its sails had been unfurled.

A retracted keel?

The Bayesian had a keel — the fin-like structure beneath a boat that can help stabilize it — that could be retracted or extended, according to its manufacturer. On some yachts, keels can be raised to let the large vessel dock in shallower water, and extended downward to help keep a boat level.

But like the hatches, the status of the keel alone may not explain why a large ship sank with such precipitous speed. Investigators have not disclosed what divers may have seen at the wreck, aside from saying divers had faced obstacles like furnishings and electrical wiring in tight quarters. Officials want to raise the wreck to better examine it, a process that may take weeks.

Human error?

Ambrogio Cartosio, the prosecutor in charge of the case, said at the news conference that it was “plausible” crimes had been committed, but that investigators had not zeroed in on any potential suspects.

“There could be responsibilities of the captain only,” he said. “There could be responsibilities of the whole crew. There could be responsibilities of the boat makers. Or there could be responsibilities of those who were in charge of surveilling the boat.”

It remains unclear what kind of emergency training or preparation took place before the disaster, or what kind of coordination there was during it. So far, none of the surviving crew members have made a public statement about what happened the night the ship sank.

Prosecutors said they want to ask more questions of the captain and crew, who have been in a Sicilian hotel with other survivors. They said that neither alcohol nor drug tests had been performed on crew members, and that they have been allowed to leave Italy.

Prosecutors also said they were also investigating why the captain, an experienced sailor, left the sinking boat while some passengers were still on board.

Besides possible manslaughter charges, the authorities are investigating the possibility of a negligently caused shipwreck.

The bodies of five passengers were found in one cabin, on the left side of the yacht, the authorities said. The five were most likely trying to flee to the higher side of the boat and were probably sleeping when the boat started to sink, they said.