A luxurious sailing trip turned deadly off the coast of Sicily this week with several high profile onboard. The 184-foot British-flagged superyacht Bayesian sank early Monday morning in rough seas and a possible tornado, claiming multiple lives and leaving others missing.
As of Wednesday, Italian divers had recovered six bodies, including that of chef Recaldo Thomas. One person remains unaccounted for. The five recovered today have not been identified.
❗️🌪🇮🇹 – British multimillionaire Mike Lynch, co-founder of Autonomy, and Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, are missing after their yacht, Bayesian, was wrecked by a tornado off the coast of Sicily.
The yacht had 22 people on board; 15 were rescued,… pic.twitter.com/QDOKkytJeS
— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformant_x) August 20, 2024
The disaster has particularly impacted members of the legal team behind tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s recent acquittal in a high-profile fraud case.
“We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident,” a spokesperson for global law firm Clifford Chance told Fox News Digital. The firm confirmed that partner Christopher Morvillo and his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo, are among those still missing.
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The Morvillos were part of a group of English entrepreneurs and tourists aboard the ill-fated vessel. Ayla Ronald, a senior associate at Clifford Chance was among the 15 people rescued.
Her father, Lin Ronald, shared with The Telegraph that his daughter texted him after the incident, confirming her survival but indicating there had been deaths.
“[S]he hasn’t given me any updates about missing personnel or saved personnel. She has only said to me that there are deaths, and she and her partner are alive,” Lin Ronald told The Telegraph. Ronald also stated that his daughter “is a lawyer who is part of the legal team that was invited to go sailing as a result of the success in the recent United States court case.”
Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International and a witness in Lynch’s defense along with his wife, are also listed among the missing British nationals.
The sinking occurred around 5 a.m. Monday near the port of Porticello, where the yacht was anchored. A coast guard official in Palermo told Reuters, “The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude.”
Civil protection officials suggest a tornado may have struck the yacht.
CCTV captures £30m Bayesian superyacht sinking "in 60 seconds" off #Sicily coast during storm
6 missing, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter & Morgan Stanley boss
Yacht struck by waterspout at 5am Monday. Rescue efforts hampered by depth & debris 🙏 pic.twitter.com/NKhRg4md0z
— True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) August 20, 2024
This tragedy comes on the heels of a major legal victory for Mike Lynch. On June 6, the tech billionaire was acquitted of fraud accusations in San Francisco.
Christopher Morvillo, in one of his final social media posts before the accident, celebrated the win on LinkedIn. He thanked his “patient and incredible wife” and “strong, brilliant and beautiful daughters,” poignantly adding that his family would live “happily ever after.”
In a strange twist, Stephen Chamberlain, Lynch’s co-defendant in the fraud case, died in a car accident in the UK just days before the yacht sank. Chamberlain, 52, had served as the former vice president of finance at Lynch’s software company, Autonomy.
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Search and recovery efforts continue.