The hull of the Bayesian superyacht breached the surface of the Mediterranean Sea on Friday as cranes pulled it up from the seabed off Sicily, where it had lain since it sank last August, killing seven people.
As a portion of the dark-blue hull of the yacht, which belonged to the British tech mogul Michael Lynch, was raised from the waters, it carried with it the hope of providing answers to a mysterious tragedy.
Italian and British investigators are still trying to find out what caused the sinking of the $40 million superyacht — which its makers had deemed “unsinkable” — during a storm 10 months ago, while a converted tugboat anchored in the same cove weathered the gale just fine.
The mystery has compounded the grief of the family and friends of the seven people who perished: Mr. Lynch; his teenage daughter, Hannah; four of Mr. Lynch’s friends, including a prominent lawyer and his wife; and the sailboat’s cook.
Theories and accusations have proliferated since the sinking. The company that owns the yacht’s builder accused the crew of making a chain of fatal errors. A preliminary investigation by British maritime authorities found that the boat had likely been knocked over by an intense gust of wind and noted that the Bayesian’s signature feature, a gigantic single mast that was one of the tallest in the world, increased the vulnerability of the boat to capsizing in high winds. The New York Times published findings similar to those of the British authorities last year in its investigation of the accident.
The hull, inside which six of the seven bodies of the victims were previously found, the deck and some of the boat’s vents and railings became visible for a few hours for the first time in months on Friday. Steel straps attached to maritime cranes pulled it from more than 50 yards below the surface of the sea, where it had lain on its starboard side.
TMC Marine, the company organizing the recovery of the vessel, said that the boat’s towering mast had been removed on Tuesday. On Saturday, the boat is set to be fully brought to the surface and out of the water, with seawater pumped out of the hull, TMC Marine said in a statement.
The boat is being salvaged not only to further the investigations, but also to prevent any environmental damage. That part of the Sicilian coast is a protected marine area, so the Bayesian’s wreckage had to be removed.
The British investigators’ preliminary report said that “examination of the wreck of the yacht, when salvaged, should improve the investigators’ understanding of the yacht’s actual loss condition” and other factors.
A central question is how the Bayesian took on so much water, so quickly — a crew member who survived said the boat sank in two minutes. The speed of the disaster left passengers trapped below deck when the yacht went down.
British investigators indicated that they would study the wreck to determine the “egress routes, internal layout and life raft status.”
The salvage operation is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, and the investigations will likely take several more months.
Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome.
Jeffrey Gettleman is an international correspondent based in London covering global events. He has worked for The Times for more than 20 years.
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