Latest news on Mike Lynch’s yacht: Divers use special cranes to enter boat’s hull as wreckage hampers search efforts

Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coast Guard said there were fears that the six missing tourists were dead.

When asked about the possibility of them being alive, he said: “Never say never, but it stands to reason that the answer is no.”

“We believe they are still inside the boat, that’s our very hard idea,” he said.

“Of course we do not rule out that they are not inside the boat, but we know that the boat sank quickly.

“We believe the six missing people may not have had time to get off the boat.”

The tragic sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily is the latest sign that the Mediterranean is becoming a more dangerous sea to sail, say those who know the waters best.

The coastguard said bad weather had been expected but added that it was more severe than expected. Some locals spoke of a severe sea storm. “It was something strange,” fisherman Andrea Carini told Reuters. The Bayzian was anchored with its sails lowered when the storm hit and another yacht was moored nearby.

A team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) have arrived at Porticello where they are expected to inspect the sinking site.

They are believed to have arrived on Tuesday and are expected to conduct an “initial assessment” of the site on Wednesday.

The UK’s anti-corruption watchdog is looking into what happened because the sailing yacht Bayesian was understood to be flying a British flag.

The Italian Coast Guard said the FBI was not involved in the search for the missing and that it had not requested assistance.

“Even if they did come (most likely), the checks are carried out by the Italian authorities. We have not asked them to take the initiative,” said UNHCR spokesman Vincenzo Zagarola.

The hull of the sunken yacht was inspected on Wednesday morning.

Search teams arrived at 6.30am local time (5.30am GMT), with a boat carrying divers seen leaving Porticello at around 10.30am (9.30am GMT).

Firefighters said they were able to reach the yacht through natural entrances, without making holes.

The Italian Coast Guard said that the search operations are being carried out using remote-controlled underwater vehicles, and naval units and divers are also participating in the search operations.

The luxury yacht was the victim of a “black swan event,” an unexpected situation that caused the boat to capsize and sink.

“Looking at extreme weather, if it’s a waterspout, which it looks like, I consider it a black swan event,” says Matthew Shank.

A black swan event is used to refer to a rare event that is unexpected and unknowable, but often justified as inevitable.

“Even outside of the maritime industry, all industries experience black swan events,” Mr. Shank said.

The prestigious Latimer High School in Hammersmith, where Hannah Lynch was a pupil, said they were all “incredibly shocked” after the yacht sank with those on board.

“We are all incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic accident and our thoughts are with their family and everyone involved as we await further updates,” a company spokesperson said.

according to The Times Hannah had just completed her A-levels and won a place to study English at Oxford, having won a number of academic awards during her time at school.

It was supposed to be a summer celebration.

British tech mogul Mike Lynch has assembled his trusted lawyers who have been with him every step of the way to help him emerge unscathed from a grueling 13-year legal battle. Twelve guests have traveled to the picturesque Italian port of Porticello near Palermo from the UK and the US. CanadaNew Zealand and Ireland, to mark the end of a fraud trial that had consumed much of their lives.

But now one person has died and six others, including Lynch, are missing, as hopes of a successful rescue operation fade after the ship capsized in bad weather in the early hours of Monday morning.

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A doctor who treated the 15 survivors of the Bayesian yacht in the immediate aftermath of its sinking said the injured spoke of “darkness” as the boat capsized.

Dr Fabio Genco described “horrific scenes” as guests and crew searched for their loved ones, while his main concern was treating the child in case she had ingested the salt water.

“The word the mother and all the injured kept repeating was ‘darkness’ as the ship sank,” he added.

“They talked about five minutes, three to five minutes, from the moment the boat was lifted and raised by the waves until it sank.”

The brother of the Morgan Stanley chairman who disappeared after his luxury yacht sank off Sicily said he hoped air pockets were keeping the people alive.

Speaking to the BBC, Jonathan’s twin brother Jeremy Bloomer said he was optimistic.

“It’s a slow process and it’s going to take some time. So there could be air pockets, but we don’t know. It’s still a wait and see thing, so hopefully all the predictions come true,” he said.

The search for British billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter has reached a critical stage after the businessman’s yacht sank in a hurricane off the coast of Palermo, the capital of Sicily.

The Independent explains everything we know so far: