A 50-metre British-flagged sailing boat with 22 people on board sank off the coast of Palermo. Fifteen people were rescued, but one person died and seven people are missing.
Due to bad weather in the Palermo area, a 50-metre sailboat with 22 people on board sank around 5 a.m. in the inlet in front of Porticello.
15 people were rescued by coast guard patrol boats and firefighters. While one man’s body was recovered, seven people are still missing. The boat is believed to have sunk due to a tornado that hit the area.
Divers from the fire brigade have already reached the hull, at a depth of 49 metres, half a mile from the coast. The carabinieri, 118 and civil protection are picking up survivors.
The ship, Bayesian, flies the British flag. On board were mainly British people, but also a New Zealander, a Sri Lankan citizen, two Anglo-French and an Irishman.
Research in progress
The search for the seven missing people who were on board the sailboat that sank at dawn this morning is underway off the coast of Porticello.
Several helicopters are flying over the area where the accident that caused the sinking of the Bayesian occurred. A plane has also been sent by the Catania fire brigade.
During these hours, divers from the fire brigade and patrol boats from the Port Authority are going through, centimetre by centimetre, the sea area where the tragedy occurred. The investigations into the accident at sea that caused the disappearance of seven people are being carried out by the Port Authority.
In the coming hours, the fifteen survivors will be questioned, including the captain of the boat who managed to escape. It is likely that the seven missing people were in the cabins and were trapped there. The wreck is located 49 meters deep, lying on the seabed.
Among the missing was the only crew member, the cook; the missing passengers are said to be four Britons, one Canadian and two Americans.
The ship was in the port of Porticello and set sail yesterday evening.
The sailboat was still at anchor before it sank
According to some witnesses, the ship was still anchored in front of the port of Porticello when the tornado struck. The anchor was down. The storm that hit the ship is said to have broken the imposing sail mast. This would have unbalanced the ship and caused the shipwreck.
There were two sailing ships in the port. It was the other ship that rescued the Bayesian ship. “That ship was all lit up – says a resident of Porticello. – Around 4:30 in the morning, it was gone. A beautiful ship where there had been a party. A normal holiday day spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy.”
Bayesian, the sunken luxury sailboat was flying the British flag
The Bayesian is an elegant 56-metre sailing yacht with a gross tonnage of 473 tonnes, built by the Perini Navi Viareggio shipyard in February 2008, renovated in 2020 and designed for luxury travel.
According to Vessel Finder, the ship arrived in Porticello after a stopover in Milazzo and a passage in front of Cefalù. The deck area is 436 square meters and the six cabins occupy an area of 143 square meters.
According to the builder, the owner and 11 guests can be accommodated on board in addition to the 10 crew members. Bayesan is built with an aluminum hull and superstructure, with teak decks. Powered by two 965 hp MTU 8-cylinder diesel engines, she cruises at 12 knots and reaches a top speed of 15 knots. The boat has the second tallest mast in the world and the largest aluminum mast at 75 meters.
Additional sources • adaptation: Serge Duchêne