Mike Lynch among those missing after luxury yacht sinks off Sicily

ROME (Reuters) – British technology mogul Mike Lynch and five others are missing after their luxury yacht sank during an unusual storm off Sicily early on Monday, Italian authorities and civil protection said. Lynch’s wife and 14 others survived.

Lynch, who was He was acquitted in June. In a major fraud trial in the United States, he was among six people still missing after their chartered sailboat sank off Porticello, near Palermo. Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency said an over-water storm known as a waterspout hit the area overnight.

Rescue authorities said one body had been recovered, and police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was moored 50 metres (165 feet) deep off Porticello where it was anchored.

The Italian coast guard said the ship was carrying 10 crew and 12 passengers. A sudden violent storm hit the area overnight, hitting precisely where the 56-metre British ship was moored.

“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Kosina said, noting that another large ship nearby, the Sir Robert Baden-Powell, was not badly damaged and helped rescue the 15 survivors — including Lynch’s wife, Angela Pakaris.

The Bayzian was famous for its two single masts, which stood 75 metres (246 feet) tall – one of the tallest aluminium masts in the world – and which were lit up at night just hours before it sank. Online charter sites were offering the ship for up to €195,000 (about $215,000) a week.

One of the survivors, identified as Charlotte Golonski, said she lost control of her one-year-old daughter Sophia in the water but was able to hoist her above the waves until the lifeboat inflated and they were pulled to safety, ANSA reported. The father, identified by the agency as James Emsley, also survived, Kosina said.

Carsten Borner, the captain of the Sir Robert Baden-Powell, said he noticed the Albayzian nearby during the storm, but after the storm subsided he saw a red signal and realized the ship had simply disappeared, Italian news agency ANSA and the Giornale di Sicilia reported. Borner said he and a crew member boarded their boat and found a lifeboat with 15 people on board, some of them injured, and took them aboard and alerted the coast guard.

Eight of those rescued were taken to hospital while the others were taken to a hotel, said Luca Cari, spokesman for the Italian fire service. The body of a cook, believed to be the cook, was found near the wreckage, but six others are still missing and are believed to be inside the hull.

Rescue teams had located the ship, and deep-sea police divers were trying to reach its hull, Carey said. The operations, which were visible from the shore, involved helicopters and rescue boats from the Coast Guard, firefighters, rescuers and the Civil Protection Service.

Fisherman Fabio Cefalu said he saw a light signal from the shore at around 4:30 a.m. and immediately set off to the location but by the time he arrived the Bayezid yacht had already sunk, leaving only cushions, wood and other items from the luxury yacht in the water.

“But for the rest of the people, we haven’t found anyone,” he said from the port hours later. He said he immediately alerted the coast guard and stayed on the scene for three hours but found no survivors. “I think they’re inside, all the missing people,” he said.

He said he had woken up early to check the weather and see if he could go fishing, and expected a sudden storm to hit the yacht.

“Maybe the mast broke, or the anchor in the bow pulled it, I don’t know,” he said.

The crew and passengers came from a variety of countries, Kuchina said: In addition to Britain and the United States, the passengers and crew were from Antigua, France, Germany, Ireland, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain.

The UK’s Maritime Accident Investigation Branch is sending a team of four inspectors to Italy to conduct an initial assessment. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was “providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families”.

The only Dutch citizen on board, a man, was rescued and is not in a life-threatening condition, Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Kasper Sotikow said.

Lynch, once hailed as Britain’s tech king, was acquitted in June of fraud and conspiracy charges related to Hewlett-Packard’s $11 billion acquisition of his company Autonomy Corp.

The acquittals came after an 11-week criminal trial in San Francisco that explored HP’s history. Acquisition 2011 Autonomy, a commercial software company founded by Lynch.

the Fraud allegations The deal represented a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the businessman once described as Britain’s Bill Gates – a title he seemed to live up to when he received $800 million from the sale of Autonomy.

The court acquitted Lynch, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing and called Hewlett-Packard a technology train wreck.

“I look forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” Lynch said in a statement after the verdict.

The yacht, built in 2008 by Italian company Perini Navi, can accommodate 12 passengers in four double cabins, a triple and a master suite, plus crew quarters, according to Charter World and Yacht Charters.

The ship, formerly called Salute when it flew under the Dutch flag, featured a sleek, minimalist interior of light wood with Japanese touches designed by French designer Remi Tessier, according to descriptions and photos on charter websites.

___

Associated Press writers Danica Kirka and Sylvia Hoey in London contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the fisherman’s name is Fabio Cefalu, not Francesco Cefalu.