Luxury yacht sinks off Sicily coast: Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch among missing

Rescue efforts are intensifying in Sicily as teams search for six people still missing after a luxury yacht sank in a violent storm on Monday. The yacht, named "Bayesian," was a British-flagged 56-meter sailboat carrying 22 people. It was anchored near Porticello when the severe weather struck, leading to the vessel's rapid capsize. Among the missing are British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.

What happened?
The storm hit the yacht around 4 a.m. local time, causing it to overturn swiftly after its mast broke. The Italian Coast Guard confirmed the death of the yacht’s chef, Ricardo Thomas, an Antiguan citizen. Fifteen individuals managed to escape before the boat sank, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, and a one-year-old girl. According to Salvatore Cocina, head of Civil Protection in Sicily, "the wives of both Jonathan Bloomer and Chris Morvillo are also unaccounted for."


Search Challenges
Specialist divers reached the wreck at a depth of about 50 meters on Monday but faced difficulties due to obstructions. The ongoing search has been complicated by these conditions. Renato Schifani, President of Sicily, visited the children’s hospital in Palermo to see the rescued one-year-old girl and her parents. He stated, "My thoughts go to all the people involved and their families, but today we are also here to testify that the solidarity and commitment of our health workers and Civil Protection volunteers are a precious resource for our community."

Who were onboard?
Mike Lynch, the 59-year-old founder of Autonomy, had been on the yacht to celebrate his recent acquittal in a long-standing legal battle with Hewlett Packard. Lynch was accused of inflating Autonomy's value in an $11 billion sale. After being extradited from Britain to the U.S., he was acquitted of fraud charges in June. The boat trip was reportedly a celebration of this legal victory.

Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer from Clifford Chance, were also on board and are among those missing. Clifford Chance declined to comment on the situation when contacted by CNBC. Aki Hussain, CEO of Hiscox, expressed his sorrow, stating, "We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event."

Stephen Chamberlain, Lynch’s co-defendant who was also acquitted in the trial, died in a separate incident when he was struck by a car while jogging in Cambridgeshire just before the yacht tragedy. His lawyer described Chamberlain as someone who fought to clear his name and whose memory lives on through his family.