The British superyacht that sank off Sicily last August, killing seven people, is being lifted from the seabed this weekend – nearly a year after the tragedy unfolded.
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among seven people who died when the 56-metre (184ft) Bayesian sank off the coast of the Italian island on 19 August.
The boat’s manufacturers, Italian prosecutors, British marine investigators and survivors have all made different claims about why the boat sank so suddenly.
The boat’s captain and two crew members are currently under investigation for manslaughter.
The Independent looks at everything we know about the incident and how the boat may have sank.
The Bayesian sank off the coast of the Sicilian capital of Palermo in Italy in the early hours of 19 August last year, after it was hit by unexpected extreme weather. It took just 16 minutes to sink.
There were 22 people on board and seven were killed, including Mr Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah.
A coastguard official in Palermo said at the time that bad weather had been expected but not of the magnitude witnessed. Winds of up to 90mph were recorded on the day.
Subsequent investigations have identified that the boat was hit by a mesocyclone, which is a type of powerful rotating thunderstorm that can produce tornadoes or extreme wind bursts.
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 wife, Judy Bloomer, 71, who were all British nationals.
Sicilian prosecutors are have opened an inquiry into suspected manslaughter and have placed the captain James Cutfield, from New Zealand, and two British crew members, Tim Parker Eaton and Matthew Griffiths, under investigation.
Experts have claimed that hatches and doors were left open overnight by the crew, causing the boat to sink.
The owner of the boat and the wife of Mr Lynch, Angela Bacares, has also accused the crew of making “questionable decisions” when she was up on deck with them on the night of the tragedy.
But an interim report by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found that the vessel’s design, particularly its raised centreboard and high mast, could also be responsible for the tragedy.
