PALERMO, Sicily (Reuters) – Rescue teams in Sicily were preparing to resume the search for six people missing, including British businessman Mike Lynch and his daughter, after a violent storm hit a luxury yacht and it sank on Monday, killing one person on board.
The British-flagged 56-metre (184-foot) sailing ship Baysian, with 22 people on board, was anchored off Porticello when it was hit by bad weather.
Among those missing were Jonathan Plummer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Lynch in a long-running trial in the United States.
The two men’s wives are still missing, Salvatore Cocina, head of Sicily’s civil protection, told Italian media.
The fire department said specialist divers reached the ship on Monday at a depth of about 50 metres, but access was limited by objects in the way.
Fifteen people managed to escape before the boat sank, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bakaris, the boat’s owner, and a one-year-old girl.
Rescue teams on Monday found the body of the yacht’s cook, who has been identified as Antiguan Ricardo Thomas.