A recovery operation for a Superyacht sunk off the Sicilian coast was interrupted after the death of a diver during the recovery effort.
The yacht, named Bayessian, sank a year ago after a powerful storm that cost seven people, including the British technology magnate Mike Lynch and his daughter.
The ship is currently 49 meters (160 feet) below the surface. The diver, a specialist working on the recovery, died on Saturday, according to a company spokesperson supervising the operation. More details surrounding the death of the diver were not immediately available.
“We are saddened to confirm the tragic death of a specialized diver while doing underwater work earlier during the day (Friday),” said David Wilson, spokesperson for British TMC, in a statement sent by email.
He also said that the authorities had started an investigation and that “all parties offer their full cooperation”.
The port authority of Palermo, in charge of the investigation, refused to comment on the cause of the death of the diver.
The local prosecutor’s office also sealed the area where the 39 -year -old Dutch diver died, local media reported.
Marine safeguard experts began working at the beginning of May to replenish the ship from the seabed from the Sicilian port of Porticello, an important one of the most powerful sea cranes in Europe from Rotterdam.
The plan was to cut the aluminum mast of 75 meters (246 feet) of the yacht – the second largest in the world – to allow the shell to be brought back more easily to the surface. We initially thought that the operation would take 20 to 25 days to save the yacht, but it is not clear now when the complex recovery of the Bayesian could resume.
Dutch companies Hebo, a Rotterdam maritime service company, and Smit Salvage direct the recovery operation on site with the support of Italian specialists.
The 56 -meter yacht (183 feet) and 473 tonnes sank during what seems to have been a sudden blow, or a powerful wind located with a thunderstorm which spreads quickly after hitting the surface. Prosecutors investigate the captain and two crew members for a possible responsibility in the sinking.
In addition to Lynch and her 18 -year -old Hannah, the international president of Morgan Stanley, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Judy, lawyer Chris Mornvillo and his wife, Neda, and the ship’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, died in the ship.
