Summary

  • The body of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been recovered from the Bayesian yacht off the coast of Sicily, a source close to the family says

  • The search is continuing for one person who's still missing - it's believed it is Mike's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah

  • Five bodies have been brought ashore but they have not been formally identified

  • One body - that of Recaldo Thomas, the yacht's chef - was recovered from the sea on Monday

  • In total, 15 people survived, with six bodies recovered, and one person still missing

Live Reporting

Edited by Johanna Chisholm and Sophie Abdulla

  1. What we know about the sunken superyacht

    The Bayesian is a luxury yacht built by Italian shipbuilders Perini Navi in 2008, designed with luxury interiors and six bedroom suites on board.

    It measures 56m (184ft) long, and sporting a 72m (236ft) aluminium mast, which witnesses say broke in half in the storm, causing the ship to lose its balance and sink.

    The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in the six suites, and is listed for rent for up to 195,000 euros (£166,000) a week.

    The yacht's name is understood to derive from the Bayesian theory, which missing man Mike Lynch's PhD thesis and the software that made his fortune was based on.

    The Bayesian completed a number of sailings in recent days, calling at various ports in Sicily, according to ship-tracking website VesselFinder.

    A file photo of the Bayesian sailing off the coast of ItalyPerini Navi Press Office

    A file photo of the Bayesian sailing off the coast of Italy

  2. The names of the six missing passengers

    Mike LynchReuters

    Mike Lynch

    Six people are still missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, including a father and daughter, and two married couples.

    They are:

    • UK businessman Mike Lynch, who helped establish Cambridge Neurodynamics and co-founded the firm Autonomy
    • His daughter, Hannah Lynch, an 18-year-old student
    • Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of Morgan Stanley Bank International
    • His wife Judy Bloomer
    • Chris Morvillo, a partner at the law firm Clifford Chance
    • His wife Neda Morvillo, a jewellery designer

    Yesterday we reported that the body of a man recovered near the sunken yacht is believed to be that of Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan and the onboard chef.

    His friends have described him as having "a smile that lit up the room".

    Neda and Chris MorvilloGetty Images

    Neda and Chris Morvillo

  3. Survivors spoke of five minutes of darkness as ship sank, doctor says

    Dr Fabio Genco

    Dr Fabio Genco, from the Palermo Emergency Medical Services, treated the 15 survivors of the yacht sinking when they were brought ashore on Monday.

    Speaking to BBC's Newsnight programme, he describes "apocalyptic scenes" as survivors searched for their loved ones who were missing.

    He says his main concern was treating the baby who had been on board in case she had ingested saltwater.

    "The word that the mother and all the injured kept repeating was the 'darkness' during the shipwreck," he says.

    "They spoke of about five minutes, from three to five minutes, from the moment the boat was lifted, raised by the waves of the sea until it sank."

  4. Experts use remote controlled underwater vehicles to access yacht

    As our correspondent Mark Lowen reported in the previous post, experts are now using remote controlled underwater vehicles to help access the Bayesian yacht.

    These vehicles are able to operate on the seabed for longer than the divers and rescuers.

    With the wreckage 50m (165ft) below the surface of the water, divers can only spend 12 minutes underwater. This means by the time they reach the Bayesian, they only have 10 minutes to search the wreck.

    A graphic showing the Bayesian yacht

  5. It's no longer survivors rescuers are trying to find, but bodies

    Mark Lowen
    Reporting from Sicily

    For a third straight day, the divers will be racing to reach the cabin of the Bayesian super yacht, helped by remote controlled vehicles that can operate on the seabed for far longer than the rescuers themselves.

    It is no longer survivors that they are trying to find, but bodies: of the six missing passengers, likely sleeping inside when the ship was hit by a tornado-like water spout, which tossed it underwater.

    Dr Fabio Genco, from the Palermo Emergency Medical Services, treated the 15 survivors when they were brought ashore. The word that all the injured kept repeating was darkness. The darkness they all experienced during the shipwreck.

    They spoke of about five minutes, from the moment the boat was lifted, raised by the waves of the sea, until it sank.

    British investigators are here in Sicily, working to assess the disaster and whether measures were taken on board to mitigate the extreme weather, like closing hatches: all secrets that the Bayesian may have taken down with it to the bottom of the ocean.

  6. Coastguard out on the water early this morning

    Over the past hour, we've seen images of coastguard vessels heading out to sea off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, as the search for the six missing people continues.

    The search is now in its third day, with efforts on Monday and Tuesday to find those still unaccounted for hampered by a struggle to access the cabins onboard the Bayesian wreck.

    Rescue boats operate on the sea to search for the missingReuters
    Rescue boats operate on the sea to search for the missingReuters

  7. Search for six missing people enters third day

    Emergency and rescue service officials continued working at a port near the site where a luxury yacht sank well into the evening on TuesdayReuters

    Emergency and rescue service officials continued working at a port near the site where a luxury yacht sank well into the evening on Tuesday

    Welcome to our live coverage as the search for six missing people continues following the sinking of a yacht in a storm near Palermo, Sicily.

    Yesterday rescuers struggled to gain access to the cabins onboard the sunken Bayesian yacht.

    Specialist divers – trained to work in small spaces – have been supporting the recovery of the wreck, sitting 50m (164ft) below the water’s surface.

    UK inspectors sent to assist the operation touched down in Porticello yesterday after it was confirmed earlier this week that four of missing people on the yacht are British citizens. The other two missing are US citizens.

    Meanwhile, the identities of the 15 people who made it to safety have begun to emerge. The body of a man recovered near the yacht is understood by the BBC to be that of the boat's chef Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan.

    Stay with us across today as we bring you the latest updates, analysis and reaction on the search operation.