Bayesian Yacht Hoisted Out of Water Months After Sicily Sinking Killed 7, Including Tycoon Mike Lynch and His Daughter

Ten months after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, killing seven, the doomed vessel was fully lifted out of the waters. 

The 183-foot-long Bayesian yacht was finally lifted from the water off the coast of Porticello on Saturday, June 21, according to a news release obtained by PEOPLE from TMC Marine, the British-based company organizing the recovery effort.

Recovery efforts began on June 17, when the yacht’s 72-meter mast was detached to allow the vessel’s hull to “partially parbuckle,” TMC Marine stated in a previous release. With the help of lifting slings, the yacht then shifted into an upright position while still underwater.

TMC Marine then used its “floating heavy lifting asset,” the HEBO LIFT 10, to ease the vessel to a completely upright position on Friday, June 20, after which the machinery officially lifted the yacht to the surface the following day.

After being fully lifted from the water, the Bayesian will be held in an upright position overnight, then transferred to a “specially manufactured steel cradle that awaits on the quayside” on Sunday, June 22, the release stated.

Marcus Cave, Head of Naval Architecture and a Director of TMC Marine, said: “This was a complex and precise lifting operation to recover Bayesian, and followed a step-by-step programme of salvage work.”

“The salvage team has progressed in a systematic way that prioritized the safety of all working on site and minimized any potential impact on the environment. This care for personnel and for the environment will continue as Bayesian is transported into port tomorrow,” he added.

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The Bayesian sank on Aug. 19, 2024, into the waves of the Tyrrhenian Sea after what the Italian coast guard described a “violent storm.” At the time, the vessel carried 22 people: 12 passengers and 10 crew. 

Fifteen people were soon rescued after the sinking. Four days later, following complicated and protracted search and rescue efforts, the bodies of seven victims were found. They were identiifed as British tech businessman Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah; Chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer; New York City-based lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo; and chef Recaldo Thomas.

Before the tragedy, the group was “celebrating Lynch’s acquittal” after a lengthy legal saga that dated back to the 2011 sale of Autonomy, a business software company Lynch founded, to Hewlett Packard, a source close to the survivors told PEOPLE.

In May, the U.K.’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch released the interim findings of their safety investigation into what happened, which included a reconstruction of the final minutes before the ship sank.

Although questions had been raised about whether the boat was properly secured — such as the hatches being left open to water — the new report found that weather was the primary risk, and that a burst of intense winds is believed to have tipped over the luxury yacht within a matter of seconds. Additionally, officials also determined that some of the ship’s vulnerabilities to weather were not known to the owner or crew.

However, investigators wrote, “There is the possibility that new evidence may become available that might alter the circumstances as depicted in this report.”

In addition to the safety investigation, a parallel criminal investigation is being led by Sicilian prosecutors.

The deckhand as well as the ship’s skipper and chief engineer are all reportedly under investigation for possible multiple manslaughter and negligent shipwreck charges, but have not yet been formally accused of any crime.