The father of Kiwi lawyer Ayla Ronald says she's "very shaken" after being rescued from the ill-fated Bayesian off the coast of Sicily. Video / Vigil del Fuoco / Getty Images
Italian special forces divers have recovered potentially crucial video equipment from the wreck of Mike Lynch’s superyacht, which could explain how it sank.
The divers, from an Italian navy unit equivalent to Britain’s Special Boat Service, recovered video surveillance systems, computers and hard drives that will be sent to specialised labs, a source close to the investigation told Reuters. They also recovered parts of the deck.
It is hoped that, if the equipment was recovered intact, it may help investigators find out what happened on the night of the sinking.
A body bag is brought ashore in Porticello by rescue workers after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank in a storm. Photo / Getty Images
It is believed the yacht was hit by a meteorological phenomenon known as a downburst, which can pack as much punch as a mini-tornado.
The six elite divers, deployed at the request of prosecutors who are investigating the sinking, are from a special forces unit called Comsubin. They used a hyperbaric chamber that allowed them to make repeated dives of up to 40 minutes.
The coast guard has also taken underwater images with a remotely operated vehicle that will help draw up a plan to salvage the yacht.
The other victims of the August 19 tragedy were Recaldo Thomas, the ship’s Antiguan-Canadian chef, Jonathan Bloomer, the Morgan Stanley International bank chairman his wife Judy, and Chris Morvillo, a Clifford Chance lawyer, and his wife Neda.
Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, survived the disaster and were rescued by a nearby yacht.
The bodies of the seven victims have now been flown back to their home countries by private jet, according to Italian media reports.
Autopsies were conducted last week. The jet took off from Palermo airport, to the west of where the yacht went down, according to Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper.
New Zealand citizen James Cutfield, 51, was the captain of the Bayesian, the boat that sunk off the coast of Italy on August 19.
Under the Italian legal system, being placed under investigation does not imply guilt and does not necessarily mean that charges will be brought.
The Bayesian will be raised and brought to shore as part of the investigation into how it sank within 16 minutes of being hit by the storm. It is lying at a depth of about 50m, nearly a kilometre 165ft, around half a mile off the fishing town of Porticello.
