"LONDON -- A luxury superyacht, owned by the family of British tech millionaire Mike Lynch, sank off the coast of Italy last year after hurricane-force winds buffeted against its more-than-200-foot mast and tipped it over, an interim report by U.K. maritime authorities concluded Thursday.
The mystery around how the Bayesian disappeared under the waves in minutes last August -- leaving seven people dead, including Lynch and his daughter Hannah -- is the focus of investigations by Italian and British authorities.
The boat, which is still at the bottom of the sea off the coast of Sicily, is being salvaged.
On Thursday, the U.K.'s Marine Accident Investigation Branch issued an interim assessment that painted a grim picture of chaos aboard during the boat's final minutes, and pointed to potential structural issues with its design.
MAIB said the Bayesian's aluminum mast, which when it was built was the tallest in the world, left it "vulnerable" when a sudden hurricane-force wind hit the vessel.
"These vulnerabilities were also unknown to either the owner or the crew of Bayesian," the report said. A spokeswoman for The Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian's manufacturer, Perini Navi, declined to comment.
The ship's Italian manufacturer has rejected suggestions by some marine engineers that the 240-foot mast might have contributed to the accident. It accused the crew of mistakes that led to the boat taking on water until it capsized. MAIB's report said there "was no indication of flooding inside Bayesian until water came in over the starboard rails."
1. World News: Probe Ties Superyacht Tragedy To Big Mast. Colchester, Max. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 16 May 2025: A8.
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