Robot helps search for missing people after yacht shipwreck in Italy

The search for six people missing in the sinking of a sailing boat off the coast of Palermo, Sicily, including Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and British tycoon Mike Lynch, has been stepped up with the help of an additional remote-controlled underwater vehicle.

Six missing people were likely trapped inside the yacht Bayesian when it was hit by a tornado near Porticello, Sicily, and were unable to escape, authorities said.

“We are more likely to find missing people inside the ship“, said coast guard spokesman Vincenzo Zagarola on Tuesday. Divers have also arrived from Naples and another remote-controlled underwater vehicle has been deployed at the scene.

The robot, a Remotely Operating Vehicle (ROV), is capable of operating on the seabed at an altitude of up to 300 metres and with an autonomy of between 6 and 7 hours. It joins the naval, aerial and submarine resources that are being used to search for the missing people, who are believed to have been trapped in the cabins, the Italian Coast Guard reported in a statement.

The new robot is capable of operating on the seabed at a depth of up to 300 metres for between six and seven hours, better than the existing submarine which could stay submerged for two hours.

“The device deployed by the Coast Guard, equipped with advanced technology that allows it to investigate the seabed and record detailed videos and images, aims to provide useful and timely elements to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident for the benefit of the Termini Imerese Prosecutor’s Office.“, they explained.

Authorities are investigating how the luxury yacht sank early Monday morning, as the captain and other survivors answer questions from local prosecutors, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

“At this time there is no evidence that the mast has broken.“Zagarola told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.We can also say that, so far, there is no evidence that the hull has been breached. But we still don’t have a clear idea of ​​the total amount of damage.”.

Crews, assisted by military ships and helicopters, have been searching for the missing passengers since Monday, when the Bayesian was hit by a tornado. Six passengers, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and nine crew members were rescued and one person was confirmed dead.

In an interview with the PA news agency, Zagarola was asked if the remaining passengers would be found alive.Reasonably, the answer should be no.“, said.

Lynch, 59, and his family were celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with a small group of advisers when the storm broke. The charges stemmed from Lynch’s sale of software company Autonomy Corp. to Hewlett Packard Co. in 2011. The Silicon Valley giant later accused Lynch of accounting errors. Lynch had spent years trying to clear his name in court and restore his reputation as one of Europe’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Just over two months before the yacht accident, a San Francisco jury found Lynch not guilty of criminal charges that he misled HP into overpaying for his company. He was still fighting HP in a civil case in London, where a British judge found him liable for creating the illusion of a much larger and more successful company than it actually was.

Lynch and her daughter Hannah, Bloomer and his wife, Judy, and Clifford Chance partner Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, were identified as the missing passengers Tuesday by authorities in Sicily.

Rescue teams have had difficulty accessing the yacht, which is lying at a depth of 48 metres (160 feet), due to the depth and position of the ship’s hull. Local media reported on Wednesday that small teams of divers have been able to access some of the ship’s interior sections.

“The search will continue as long as necessary.Zagarola told Bloomberg. ““Undoubtedly, the entire hull will have to be inspected meter by meter.”

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch has sent inspectors to conduct a preliminary assessment, a Department for Transport spokesman said.

An investigation would involve speaking to crew, passengers and other witnesses and collecting physical and digital evidence, for example by examining logbooks, crew qualifications and any voyage recorder data.

Advances in the search

Search teams managed to enter the ship’s hull through a porthole on Tuesday, gradually reaching the common areas of the ship with great difficulty due to furniture and other objects blocking their way, but they did not reach the cabins, where the missing people are believed to have been trapped.

The person in charge of underwater operations, Marco Tilotta, explained to the media that due to the depth, about 50 metres, the divers, who descend two by two, cannot stay down there for more than 12 minutes and, after that time, they have to go back up to the surface to avoid physical problems.

According to the regional head of Civil Protection, Salvo Cocina, the six missing in the shipwreck are two American citizens and four British citizens: British tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, the president of Morgan Stanley International with his wife Judy, and Lynch’s lawyer, Chris Morvillo, with his wife Neda.

The Coast Guard intervened after the sinking of the sailboat carrying 22 people on board, 10 crew members and 12 passengers, and was able to rescue 15 of them, who managed to get on deck.

Divers on Monday recovered the body of a crew member, cook Ricardo Tomas, a French national born on the Caribbean island of Antigua.

The Termini Imerese prosecutor’s office in Sicily has opened an investigation into why the 56-metre-long luxury yacht sank in one minute, while another nearby boat was not damaged despite having also been hit by the strong tornado that hit the area.

With information from Bloomberg and EFE