A superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily killing four British nationals – including tech tycoon Mike Lynch – will be raised from the seabed and brought to shore next month, an inquest hearing has heard.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mr Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among seven people who died when the Bayesian sank on 19 August last year.
Simon Graves, a principal investigator for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), said it was anticipated the vessel would be lifted and brought to shore by the end of May.
It is understood that the operation to retrieve the boat is due to begin on 26 April.
“It’s unlikely we will be on scene when the vessel is lifted clear of the water, but we will be on scene when it’s recovered to shore,” Mr Graves told a pre-inquest review hearing in Ipswich, Suffolk, on Tuesday.
He said the Bayesian was registered in the Isle of Man, so there is a British safety investigation, separate from ongoing criminal investigations.
Mr Graves said he hoped the MAIB could publish its interim report online in four to six weeks, with the final report to follow in “months, not weeks” after the vessel has been inspected for evidence.
“We are relatively early in our investigation,” Mr Graves said.
He added that a “significant amount of work” had already happened, including commissioning studies looking at the “stability and windage of the vessel” and the weather at the scene.
Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley asked if the “vessel itself was a primary source of evidence” and Mark Cam, of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), said “absolutely, sir”.
Inquest proceedings in the UK are looking at the deaths of Mr Lynch and his daughter, as well as Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer, who were all British nationals.
The others who died included US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the yacht.
Mr Parsley granted interested person status to the family of Mr Thomas, giving them participatory rights in proceedings.
He said that if he were to receive a request for the status from the Morvillo family there was “no reason why I wouldn’t grant” it.
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Mr Parsley said a date for a further pre-inquest review hearing would be set once the MAIB’s interim report has been published, indicating that September and October were possible months for this hearing.
Mr Parsley said it was “in the hands of the criminal investigations” as to when a final inquest hearing date could be set.
The Italian authorities are conducting a criminal investigation and the MCA is looking at whether there were any breaches of maritime legislation.
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Mr Parsley expressed his condolences to family and friends of the deceased, some of whom listened to proceedings remotely over a link.
Mr Lynch’s medical cause of death was recorded as drowning when his inquest was opened and adjourned last year, with the causes of the deaths of the three other British nationals still under investigation.
The Bayesian was said to be less than a nautical mile from the coast of the fishing village of Porticello at the time it sank and had 22 people on board – 12 crew and 10 guests.
Mr Lynch and his daughter were said to have lived in the vicinity of London, while the Bloomers lived in Sevenoaks in Kent.
Mr Lynch had founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal in the case in the US.
