The valiant captain of a boat that helped to rescue 15 passengers and crew from the doomed Bayesian superyacht has described what he saw when he got to the sinking ship.
Karsten Borner spoke about his experience while manning his boat, which was close to colliding with the £14 million vessel in the midst of a tornado hitting the coast of Sicily Monday (19 August) morning.
The horrid weather capsized the 55-metre Bayesian superyacht, which was also carrying 22 passengers and crew at the time, with six still currently missing, as authorities continue their search.
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One of the missing people has been confirmed to be the owner of the vessel, UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch, known as the 'British Bill Gates', along with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. His wife, Angela, made it out safely.
Most passengers were in their cabins when the tornado hit, though divers sent down to look for bodies claimed to have found 'corpses' in the vessel's portholes.
Very few people saw the state of the superyacht in the early morning yesterday, but Borner was very vivid in his recollection of the moment, as he explained to Global News: "We managed to keep the ship in position, and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone."
Even though it was anchored up near the Porticello port in Palermo, the heavy rainfall caused the superyacht to start sinking as it filled with water, as he said that Lynch's yacht 'went flat on the water and then down'.
Borner was manning the Sir Robert BP as him and his crew were slapped with strong gusts of wind and torrential rainfall, meaning that they anchored up near the Porticello port as well.
Borner continued: "There was a light and we saw that the ship was aside and then we saw a triangle. So I think she went back down," before adding that he had noticed the superyacht vanish just before seeing a flare in the water with rising smoke.
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There was a life raft out at sea with 15 people inside, including a one-year-old baby, as Borner thought quickly to inform the coastguard, who came out to guide the raft to safety.
Following the capsizing, Borner said that four people were injured, while three needed medical treatment.
The mum of the rescued one-year-old, Charlotte Golunski, says flooding in the yacht woke her up, with thunder and lightning leaving the yacht rocking according to her and her partner, James Emslie.
Young Sophia was clutched onto as Charlotte revealed her side of things to la Repubblica: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.
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“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open."
James wasn't able to find his family after initially being swept away at sea.
Seven tourists and crew didn't make it on the lifeboat, with one body, Chef Ricardo Thomas found among the wreckage.
Most of the missing people are passengers, as charterers said there were 12 guests and 10 crew sailing at the time.
Topics: Health, News, Travel, Weather, World News, Bayesian yacht
Joshua Nair