Efforts to salvage the 56-metre Perini Navi sailing yacht Bayesian have officially commenced, with multiple recovery plans submitted to the prosecutor’s office in Termini Imerese, Sicily. A consortium of insurers, led by British Marine, which covers the yacht owned by the Lynch family, has presented eight potential strategies. Local news sources indicate that these proposals include re-floating the vessel by righting it and using either cranes or advanced buoyancy systems. The salvage operation presents substantial logistical hurdles for all parties involved, as the structural integrity of the yacht is vital to the ongoing investigation headed by prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano. Approval from the Italian Coast Guard is also required for the salvage plan. Tentative plans are in place to initiate the recovery efforts in January 2025, with Bayesian expected to be transported to Palermo for forensic analysis once it is re-floated.
On 19 August 2024, Bayesian was struck by severe weather and sank approximately 0.8 nautical miles off the coast of Porticello in Sicily, Italy. It is believed that the yacht was being used to celebrate Lynch's recent triumph in a 13-year £8 billion fraud case. Of the 22 individuals on board, 15 were safely evacuated, while a subsequent search and rescue operation recovered the bodies of seven people. A manslaughter and homicide investigation is currently underway in Italy, while in the UK, an inquest into the deaths of four victims of the Bayesian disaster has officially begun at The Coroner's Court in Ipswich. The cause of death for Michael Lynch has been determined to be drowning, but the causes of death for the other three victims remain under investigation.
This development comes after The Italian Sea Group (TISG), the owner of the Perini Navi brand, announced plans to take legal action against The New York Times (NYT) in response to an article that the shipbuilder claims could damage its reputation.
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