Search Crews Race Against Time to Retrieve Sunken Superyacht and Body of Tech Magnate's Daughter

Italian search crews have resumed efforts to find the body of Mike Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, who remains missing after the British-flagged superyacht Bayesian sank off Sicily. The vessel, hit by a pre-dawn storm, was carrying 22 people. A judicial investigation is underway to understand the cause of the disaster.

Italian search crews on Friday resumed their efforts to find the body of Mike Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, the last person missing after the yacht belonging to the British tech magnate sank off Sicily this week, killing seven people. The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-foot) superyacht carrying 22 people—12 passengers and 10 crew—was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it capsized and rapidly sank on Monday after being hit by a pre-dawn storm. Rescue operations, now entering their fifth day, are described as 'long and delicate' and involve 28 specialist divers, the fire brigade said in a statement.

The wreck is lying at a depth of 50 metres and passageways inside are narrow. An interior ministry official told Reuters on Thursday that the last missing body might not be inside the yacht and could have been swept out to sea.

The bodies of the other five passengers were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday from inside the yacht. The body of the only crew member who died, onboard chef Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreck on Monday. A judicial investigation has been opened into the sinking, which has puzzled naval marine experts who say a boat like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm.

The yacht's captain James Cutfield and his eight surviving crew members have been questioned by police but have made no public statements regarding the disaster. Prosecutors are scheduled to hold a press conference on Saturday. Police have also spoken to passengers and witnesses.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini, told Reuters the shipwreck was the result of a string of 'indescribable, unreasonable errors' by the crew and ruled out any design or construction failings. Pulling the wreck out of the sea, currently lying on its right side and apparently intact, may help investigators determine the exact cause, but the operation is expected to be complex and costly. Nick Sloane, the engineer who led the operation to salvage the Costa Concordia, said in interviews that the operation would cost up to 15 million euros and could take six to eight weeks. He emphasized that the yacht's retrieval must be done 'very, very slowly' and could take a couple of days.

($1 = 0.8993 euros) (Additional reporting by Giselda Vagnoni, writing by Alvise Armellini and Giulia Segreti; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

(With inputs from agencies.)