THE recovery of Mike Lynch’s superyacht has been halted after a specialist diver died on the operation.
Brit tech tycoon Lynch drowned along with his daughter and five others died when the Bayesian sank in a storm off the Sicilian coast last August.
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And now the boat has claimed another life – a 39-year-old specialist diver from the Netherlands working to haul the wreckage off the seabed.
David Wilson, spokesman for the British-based TMC Marine, said: “We are saddened to confirm the tragic death of a specialist diver while doing underwater work earlier today.”
He added that authorities had opened an investigation and all parties were fully cooperating.
The local prosecutor’s office has sealed off the area around the port where the diver died.
Sea salvage experts began work in early May to refloat the ship from the seabed off the Sicilian port of Porticello
The brought in one of the most powerful marine cranes in Europe from Rotterdam.
The plan was to cut up the £14million superyacht’s 246ft aluminium mast – the second tallest in the world – to allow the hull to be brought to the surface.
It was thought initially the operation would take from 20 to 25 days, but now it is unclear when the Bayesian’s tricky recovery could be resumed.
Dutch-based companies HEBO, a maritime services provider from Rotterdam, and SMIT Salvage lead the operation, with support from Italian specialists.
The 183ft-long Bayesian sank during what a powerful storm.
Experts have been stumped as to how the supposedly-unsinkable ship went down.
Prosecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in the sinking.
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