Bayesian yacht sinks off Sicily latest: Search resumes for missing six superyacht passengers including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley chief Jonathan Bloomer after freak waterspout sinks 180ft sailboat

The boss of insurance group Hiscox said he is ‘deeply shocked and saddened’ as he confirmed the company’s non-executive chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife are among those missing on the yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily.

Aki Hussain, the group chief executive of Hiscox, said:

We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event.

Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation.

Mr Bloomer is also chairman of Morgan Stanley International and the former chief executive of Prudential.

A British maritime expert has today described the sinking of the Bayesian yacht as a ‘catastrophic incident’ that happened ‘very quickly’.

Matthew Shank, chairman of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, told BBC Radio 4 this morning there wasn’t much the captain or crew could do to prepare for the ‘rare weather event’ that struck the sailboat before it sank.

Given the rarity of these events there isn’t really much the captains or the crew could do to prepare for these events given how rare they are.

Reports that people who were in the life raft have had to enter the life raft from the water, and that indicates to me that this emergency has happened very, very quickly.

People haven’t had time to enter the life raft from the vessel, they’ve had to enter from the water.

One of the captains from the anchorage said he saw the vessel there one minute and then the next minute the yacht was gone and all he saw was the red flare which indicates to me that this has been a catastrophic incident which has gone very quickly.

A former Bayesian crew member has been left bewildered about how the luxury superyacht could sink as it has withstood choppy seas in the Atlantic previously.

When guests were celebrating the acquittal of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch aboard the £30million Bayesian, the 183ft yacht tragically sank off the coast of Italy.

Investigations are underway as to why the Bayesian sank when others in the vicinity remained afloat when disaster struck just before 5am on Monday.

The yacht’s former chief stewardess Monica Jensen (pictured), 48, said it is ‘a bit strange’ because she’s crossed the Atlantic on the boat and it withstood bad weather ‘all over’.

Ms Jensen worked on the Bayesian from November 2018 to October 2020 for a private owner, and said it was then sold.

She was onboard for two Caribbean seasons and cruised around Italy, Malta, Greece and the Balearics on the yacht.

It seems a bit strange. We have been in bad weather with it, crossed the Atlantic. It’s been all over. These things definitely don’t happen very often.’

A doctor in Palermo has told how the heartbroken survivors of the superyacht disaster in Sicily are ‘constantly asking about the missing people’ as six still remain unfound.

Doctor Domenico Cipolla, Director of Paediatric Admission and Medicine and Surgery at ‘Di Cristina’ hospital in Palermo, said the remaining survivors are continuously checking for news that their missing friends are okay.

The survivors are very tired and are constantly asking about the missing people. To my knowledge, there is only one body that has been found, the others are still missing.

We have given the survivors this information, but they are talking and crying all the time because they have realised that there is little hope of finding their friends alive.

Let’s take a look at the six missing passengers Italian rescuers are seaching for off the coast of Sicily today:

The six were among 12 passengers and 10 crew on board the Bayesian when it sank on Monday following a freak storm.

• In June, Mr Lynch won a 13-year legal fight and was cleared by a San Francisco court of conducting a massive fraud relating to a £8.64 billion sale of his firm, Autonomy, to US company Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
• If found guilty, it could have landed him 25 years in a US jail.
• The entrepreneur – who also owns a home in Chelsea – had spoken of his ‘indescribable’ relief at being acquitted and joy at returning to Britain, and texted one friend saying it was ‘so wonderful to be home’.
• He has also spoken at his delight at being able to spend time with his two daughters, 21 and 18, and their six dogs.
• To mark his freedom, Mr Lynch had invited guests from legal firm Clifford Chance as well as his own company Invoke Capital to celebrate on the yacht trip.

• Mr Lynch’s wife wife tragically revealed on Monday that not just her husband was missing after the yacht sank, but also their 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.
• Hannah completed her A-levels this summer and had secured a place to study English Literature at Oxford University, according to the Times.

• Mr Bloomer is a close friend of Lynch and was confirmed missing by Italian Authorities.
• According to his Linkedin profile, Mr Bloomer is the chairman of insurance provider Hiscox and was formerly the chief executive of Prudential before being ousted in a boardroom coup in 2005.
• Mr Bloomer’s wife is also missing

• Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo represented Mr Lynch in his recent legal battle in the US and was on board the Bayesian with his wife Nada.
• Attorney Gary Lincenberg said Morvillo and his wife ‘are presumed to be passed away’ after the yacht went down near Sicily.
• Mr Lincenberg told Business Insider that ‘Chris and his wife are gone’.

Italian authorities launched a huge search and rescue effort yesterday after a £30million superyacht moored off the coast of Italy sank with 22 people on board including 12 British and American passengers.

Fifteen people including a mother and her one-year-old daughter, later named as Charlotte Golunski and her daughter Sophie, were rescued by a nearby ship but six remain missing.

One man a Canadian chef was found dead in the water during searches at the shipwreck.

Yesterday afternoon it emerged Mike Lynch, a British tech tycoon, was among the missing along with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Mr Lynch’s wife Angela survived the sinking.

Here are just some of the developments we reported on MailOnline yesterday:

• Mr Lynch invited guests on his Bayesian yacht as a ‘victory’ celebration trip after he was acquitted of fraud charges in the US earlier this summer
• Some of his closest friends who joined him on the sailing remain missing including the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer and his wife
• The other two yet to be found are Mr Lynch’s attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Nada.
• The enormous 246ft-high aluminium mast on Mr Lynch’s superyacht could have been what caused the vessel to capsize and sink rapidly, according to an expert
• In an extraordinary twist, the sinking comes days after Stephen Chamberlain, an ex-colleague of Mr Lynch – who he had successfully fought the fraud case with – died after being hit by a car

We will continue to bring you updates as and when we can.

These pictures show rescue operations have resumed off the coast of Sicily this morning as six passengers on board the doomed Bayesian yacht remain missing.

Divers, helicopters and marine units were involved in searches yesterday for the passengers which include British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer.

The search for six people missing after a luxury yacht sunk in a storm off the coast of Sicily has resumed this morning with divers fearing bodies are trapped inside the vessel.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and a boss from Morgan Stanley, are among those who still have not been found after the £30million superyacht Bayesian went down early on Monday morning.

The vessel had been moored just 300 metres from the coast when it was hit by a suspected freak waterspout amid heavy thunderstorms near the city of Palermo at around 5am.

The boat, which had been carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers – went down quickly, with survivors found floating in a life raft describing how they swam for their lives.

Search teams have already found the body of one man, thought to be an onboard chef, and there are fears that more bodies will be found in the hull of the ship by specialist divers today.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as the search for six missing superyacht passengers resumes off the coast of Sicily this morning.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer are among those rescuers will try to locate.

The passengers were on board the £30million superyacht Bayesian when it capsized early Monday morning after it was hit by a suspected freak waterspout amid heavy thunderstorms near the city of Palermo.

We will bring you updates from throughout the day.