Italian Navy divers have recovered video surveillance equipment from the wreckage of billionaire Mike Lynch’s Bayesian superyacht that could explain how it sank.
The British tech tycoon’s boat had been moored near the port of Porticello on 19 August when it sank during the early hours of the morning. It is now lying 50m below the surface.
Among those killed were Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who had been due to begin studying at Oxford University in September, as well as four other family friends and associates.
Mr Lynch’s wife, along with 14 others, survived and were rescued by a nearby vessel that was unscathed.
The highly specialised divers are now combing the wreckage on behalf of prosecutors investigating the sinking.
On Thursday, they recovered parts of the deck, computer material, video surveillance systems, hard drives and various other equipment, a source told news agency Reuters.
The electronic devices will be sent to specialised labs outside of Sicily to check their condition and possibly recover data, the source added.
It is suspected that a “downburst” of strong wind resulted in the boat sinking. The video could show if the crews left doors open, which might have allowed the yacht to flood.
Daniele Governale, a coastguard official in Palermo, said the divers were using a hyperbaric chamber that allowed them to make repeated dives of up to 40 minutes as part of the search.
The coastguard has also taken underwater images with a remotely operated vehicle that will help draw up a plan to salvage the yacht.
Jonathan Bloomer, the international chairman of Morgan Stanley Bank; his wife Judith, a psychotherapist; Christopher Morvillo, a US lawyer; and his wife Neda, a jewellery designer also died in the sinking.
Also killed was the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, whose body was recovered floating near the wreckage.
Three crew members, including New Zealand captain James Cutfield, are under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck.
Under Italian laws, being investigated does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow.
Sources close to Mr Cutfield told the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that he is living through the darkest days of his life.
Prosecutors have said their investigation will take time, and will require the wreck to be pulled up from the sea bed.
According to the authorities, efforts to raise the yacht will be made by the vessel’s owner, UK company Revton, which is controlled by Mr Lynch’s widow Angela Bacares.