Divers have returned to the wreck of the luxury yacht Bayesian in an effort to learn more about why the vessel sank so quickly last month while off the coast of Sicily, killing seven of the 22 people onboard, a source said.
The specialists on Thursday, Sept. 12, went looking to retrieve the video surveillance systems that were on the yacht at the time, the source close to the investigation says, describing it as “a bid to search for clues.”
Information is not yet available on what was brought to surface.
The divers also looked for “any other photographic or video devices present,” the source says.
The Bayesian went below the water after severe weather early on Aug. 19, Italian authorities have said.
Six of the 12 passengers were later found dead inside the sunken vessel; a seventh victim, the yacht’s chef, one of the 10 crew, was recovered near theBayesian.
Officials have determined that some of the victims drowned, though further examination and testing is ongoing to see if other victims may have suffocated inside an air pocket in the sinking yacht.
The seven victims are Chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer; New York City-based lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo; British tech businessman Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah; and Recaldo Thomas, the chef.
Lynch and his family and friends had been celebrating with the yacht trip in the wake of his acquittal this year in a high-profile fraud trial in the U.S.
However, the source close to the case now says that based on “information gathered by the investigators,” the mood aboard the Bayesian had shifted in the wake of the news that Lynch’s friend Stephen Chamberlain, who was also acquitted of fraud, had died in August after being hit by a car in the U.K.
“He was so shaken by the news of the tragic loss that he had decided to interrupt his holiday and return to the UK,” the source says, “so his return was imminent.”
But those plans were derailed by what has been described as a terrible storm on Aug. 19.
What remains unclear is why the Bayesian sank, given its size and apparent seaworthiness. The investigation continues, with authorities looking into a potential manslaughter and negligent shipwreck case.
The captain and two crew members have spoken with officials but no one has been charged.
