Bayesian shipwreck: 4 bodies recovered, a fifth identified

The lifting of the drift could therefore have somehow favoured the sudden sinking of the yacht - whose causes are still being investigated - which occurred, according to some shoreline cameras, within a minute (video). In the meantime, the spelunkers, after having managed to break through the hull yesterday, have reportedly already inspected the owner's cabin, but to no avail. Checks should now continue in the passenger cabins, where the six missing people may have been trapped. A complex operation also due to the short time available, about 12 minutes between the dive and the ascent to the surface, because of the necessary decompression period. Meanwhile, other divers have arrived for the search, including divers who took part in the search for the Concordia massacre that occurred on the night of 13-14 January 2012.

The interrogation of James Catfield, 51, the captain of the Bayesien, lasted over two hours. The prosecutors of the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor's Office, which has opened an enquiry into the shipwreck, listened to him yesterday until late in the evening to reconstruct the dramatic phases of the sinking and to acquire technical details useful for the investigation. The interrogations continue today: the magistrates are hearing from all the survivors inside the Domina-Zagarella resort.

In the last few hours, as always in the case of accidents at sea, an administrative enquiry has also been opened to ascertain compliance with all safety regulations under the laws of navigation. The Coast Guard military will examine every aspect of compliance with the navigation code and the vessel's safety equipment. The criminal and administrative investigations run in parallel. The administrative investigation is the responsibility of the Palermo Maritime Directorate as an articulation of the Ministry of Transport.

Underwater investigations carried out by divers from the Naples and Messina Coast Guard Diving Units, who are operating with the help of an additional Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), have been stepped up.

It is a robot capable of operating on the seabed at an altitude of up to 300 metres and an autonomy of between six and seven hours. The device deployed by the Coast Guard, equipped with advanced technology that allows it to investigate the seabed and record videos and detailed images, aims to provide useful and accurate elements to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident for the benefit of the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor's Office.

Six people are missing in the shipwreck: the chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer and his wife; British Tlc entrepreneur Mike Lynch, founder of Autonomy, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah; Linch's lawyer Chris Morvillo and Nada Morvillo. The sailing ship, 56 metres long with a 75-metre mast and flying the British flag, was carrying 22 people: 10 crew members and 12 guests. Shortly before 5 a.m. on Monday it was swept away by a strong whirlwind when it was half a mile off the coast of Porticello. The first survivors were rescued by a Dutch boat, Sir Robert Baden Powell, which was in the immediate vicinity, and then brought ashore by the coast guard.

Apparently, the group had come together to celebrate the victory of Lynch - dubbed the "Bill Gates" of British technology - in a lengthy legal trial. Lynch was in fact acquitted in June in a US fraud case and a member of his legal team (who was not on board, however), Reid Weingarten, said the exit was intended in part as a celebration of the acquittal.

A Cambridge-educated mathematician, Lynch came to prominence with Autonomy, a search engine that could analyse e-mails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information faster. Autonomy's steady growth in its first decade led to Lynch being dubbed the 'British Bill Gates' and earning one of the UK's highest honours, the Office of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2006.

"When we intervened, the 15 survivors were already in the lifeboat of the sinking sailing ship. Their dinghy could, however, hold 12 people but there were 15 of them and it was in danger of going down at any moment. So we reached them with our tender and took them to the Sir Robert. It was a very hectic time, with a storm brewing". This was spoken by Karsten Borner, the captain of the Dutch sailing boat Sir Robert Baden Powell, who with these statements adds an important piece to the investigation into the shipwreck of the sailing ship Bayesian.

Yesterday Borner, a German, was heard by prosecutors from the Termini Imerese public prosecutor's office investigating shipwreck, disaster, injury and manslaughter. And today he left the port of Porticello, where the tragedy occurred at dawn on Monday. 'I am going to Sardinia,' Borner explains again. Then, he is keen to emphasise that he 'never said that the mast of the sailing ship broke before going down'. 'Perhaps I was misunderstood,' he said, 'the mast was intact when the boat sank. I don't know if it broke during the sinking, but as it went down it was perfectly intact. It all happened in just a few minutes.

Still recalling the tragic moments of that stormy night, Borner said that "my hosts also helped and looked after the survivors who were visibly in shock," he says, "we gave them dry clothes, because they were shivering from the cold. Shortly afterwards the Coast Guard arrived and took the survivors away, including little Sophie, a one-year-old girl who had been on board a few days earlier with her parents, James and Charlotte. Asked why the entire crew was on the lifeboat, except for the cook who was later found dead a few hours later, when the crew usually helps passengers in distress, Borner replies: 'I don't want to defend the crew, but in those moments it was really complicated to go down to bring up other passengers. The boat was sinking, within minutes it was gone'.

Lynch, 59, had sold Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. But the deal quickly fell apart after he was accused of rigging the books to complete the sale.

Allegations of fraud led to Lynch's dismissal by then HP CEO Meg Whitman and a decade-long legal battle. It culminated in his extradition from the UK to face criminal charges of masterminding a multi-billion dollar fraud. Lynch has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, saying he was made a scapegoat, a position he maintained while testifying before a jury during a two-and-a-half month trial in San Francisco earlier this year. US Justice Department prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses in an attempt to prove their case against Lynch.

The entrepreneur, after being exonerated at trial in June, pledged to return to the UK and explore new ways to innovate. Although he avoided a possible prison sentence, Lynch was expected to face the outcome of a civil lawsuit in which HP is seeking $4 billion. One of Lynch's US lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of the Clifford Chance firm, and his wife Neda were on the yacht and are among those missing.

Morvillo is considered an elite defence lawyer specialising in fraud and corruption cases. He was previously a federal prosecutor in New York who worked on the criminal investigation of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. His father, Robert Morvillo, was also a lawyer who represented high-profile clients, including Martha Stewart.

Clifford Chance said it was "in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic accident". "Our top priority is to provide support to the family," the firm said.

The president of Morgan Stanley's London-based investment banking subsidiary, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Judy, are also among those missing from the yacht wreck.

Bloomer is non-executive chairman of both Morgan Stanley International, which covers markets outside the US, and Hiscox Group, an insurer operating in the Lloyd's of London insurance market.

Lynch had appointed Bloomer to Autonomy's board of directors in 2010, where he served as chairman of the audit committee at the time of the deal with HP. Bloomer also testified for the defence at Lynch's trial.