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SEA CLOUD SPIRIT current position and history of port calls are received by AIS. Technical specifications, tonnages and management details are derived from VesselFinder database. The data is for informational purposes only and VesselFinder is not responsible for the accuracy and reliability of SEA CLOUD SPIRIT data.

One person dead and six missing after superyacht with 22 on board is sunk by tornado off coast of Italy

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among those unaccounted for after the ship was battered by a tornado off the coast of Palermo in the early hours of Monday morning.

Tuesday 20 August 2024 16:20, UK

A man has died and six people are missing after a UK-flagged superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily in a tornado - with a prominent British businessman among those unaccounted for.

Technology tycoon Mike Lynch owned the 56-metre vessel (183ft), named Bayesian.

Mr Lynch, known as the "British Bill Gates", has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.

In June, he was cleared of all charges by a US jury related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah is among those missing after his yacht sank, local media reports.

Follow live updates: People missing after superyacht sinks

Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares is confirmed to be among the 15 people who were rescued after the British-flagged yacht capsized at around 4.30am local time (3.30am UK time) on Monday.

One body has also been recovered, after being found close to the vessel, according to local media.

Read more: Everything we know so far about luxury vessel sunk by tornado Lynch's co-defendant dies after being hit by car days before yacht sinking

The boat was hit by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, that struck where the yacht had been anchored during the storm.

Police divers have been trying to reach the hull of the ship, which is resting at a depth of 50 metres (163 feet) off Porticello, near Palermo.

During the rescue effort, divers saw "corpses through the portholes" of the wreck, Salvo Cocina, the head of the Civil Protection of Sicily, said.

“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he added.

The incident comes days after Stephen Chamberlain, Mr Lynch's co-accused in the fraud trial, died in a car collision in Stretham, Cambridgeshire.

Mr Chamberlain's lawyer said he was out running on Saturday when he was hit by a car.

Most on board yacht thought to be British

The boat had 12 passengers and a crew of 10 people. Four of the missing passengers are British and two are American, Italian news website la Reppublica reports.

Most of those on board were reported to be from Britain - including a mother and one-year-old daughter who are among those rescued.

Speaking to the Giornale Di Sicilia newspaper, Charlotte Golunski said: "For two seconds I lost my baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves.

"I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy. Many were screaming. Luckily, the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us managed to get on board."

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Ms Golunski was reportedly given stitches for a chest injury following the ordeal. The father of the child also survived, Mr Cocina said.

Eight of the 15 people rescued and taken ashore at Porticello were taken to hospital, while the others were taken to a hotel.

The Italian coast guard said the boat had passengers from Britain, the US, and Canada.

Meanwhile, multiple Italian news outlets reported that people on the boat were from Britain, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Ireland.

British-French citizens were also among those on the superyacht, according to reports.

'I saw it sinking with my own eyes'

Pietro Asciutto, a fisherman from Porticello who witnessed the storm, told local media: "I was at home when the tornado hit. I immediately closed all the windows. Then I saw the boat, it had only one mast, it was very big. I saw it suddenly sink."

He added: "I think the whirlwind came from Porticello... shortly afterwards I went down to Santa Nicolicchia Bay to get a better look at what was happening.

"The boat was still floating, then all of a sudden it disappeared. I saw it sinking with my own eyes."

Fabio Cefalu, another local fisherman, called rescue services after spotting the wrecked boat off Porticello.

He said: "Around 3.55am we witnessed the whirlwind. After a quarter of an hour, we saw a flare 500 metres away from the dock.

"Around 4:35am we went out to sea for the rescue, however, we only saw the remains of the boat floating. There were no men in the sea. So we immediately called the harbour master's office."

A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: "We are in contact with the local authorities following an incident in Sicily, and stand ready to provide consular support to British nationals affected."

Camper and Nicholsons, which provided yacht management services for the Bayesian, has confirmed the vessel sank at around 4.30am local time.

The company said in a statement: "The Italian coast guard is leading search and rescue operations, and has safely recovered 15 individuals. Efforts to locate the seven missing persons continue.

"Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew."

Online charter sites listed the Bayesian as available for rent for up to €195,000 (about £166,339) a week.

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NOVA SPIRIT Yacht, IMO 8980294

Where is the current position of nova spirit presently vessel nova spirit is a yacht ship sailing under the flag of canada . her imo number is 8980294 and mmsi number is 316001670. main ship particulars are length of 45 m and beam of 9 m. maps show the following voyage data - present location, next port, estimated (eta) and predicted time of arrival (pta), speed, course, draught, photos, videos, local time, utc time..

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Cargo ship runs aground near Montreal following mechanical failure, blocking marine traffic

6 ships will have to be anchored due to blocked canal.

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A cargo ship has run aground near Kahnawà:ke on Montreal's South Shore after it experienced a mechanical failure, according to the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. 

A spokesperson for the corporation, Jean Aubry-Morin, said workers are aiming to have the vessel moving again by noon tomorrow. So far, six other ships are impacted by the blockage on the South Shore canal. The ships are headed to be anchored on Lake Saint-Louis or in the St. Lawrence River close to the port of Montreal. 

• UPDATE: Cargo ship blocking canal near Kahnawà:ke tugged free

The Dutch vessel, Heemskerkgracht ,  headed for Spain, was turning on its axis on the canal along Lake Saint-Louis to go back up to Montreal when the boat's engine stopped working. The nose of the vessel then crept up the riverbank where the ship ended up getting stuck at a 45-degree angle.

Heemskerkgracht is a 138-metre cargo ship carrying scrap metal. 

The "unfortunate incident" does not pose a threat to the environment and no injuries have been reported, Aubry-Morin said.

This 138-metre ship got stuck in a canal near Montreal and is blocking cargo traffic

The ship traffic blockage is complicating Canadian exports, Aubry-Morin said, explaining that "the marine highway was the fallback position for exporting grain" amid the ongoing railway labour dispute which had brought freight traffic to a halt since Thursday.

"There's been a lot of redirection of cargo on the inland marine highway and I think for us time is the essence," he added.

Once the Heemskerkgracht lost power, the ship drifted downstream, according to Eric Esclamadon, deputy superintendent of the marine environmental response team with the Canadian Coast Guard. 

The ship first hit the southern embankment of the canal before rebounding and then running aground on the northern side of the canal, Esclamadon said.

"That's why it's resting at a diagonal within the navigation channel and is blocking navigation in the area," Esclamadon said.

There appears to be no damage to the ship. Crews are monitoring the situation, and there is no water infiltrating the vessel, nor is there no pollution leaving it, he said.

The Coast Guard also surveilled the site with drones to make sure no pollution was seeping into the river, Esclamadon added.

The canal is a crucial link for commercial ships travelling between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There is no alternative route around the canal.

• Teamsters union serves CN Rail with 72-hour strike notice as CPKC stoppage continues

"While it is blocked the way it is, all the ships that are in the Great Lakes are stuck in the Great Lakes, and those that are on the other side, well, they can't go to the Great Lakes," Esclamadon said. 

"The longer the channel is blocked, the longer the list of vessels waiting will be."

Aubry-Morin predicts that, by the time the ship is afloat, there could be up to 14 anchored ships. Once dislodged from the riverbank, the vessel will be sent to a pier for inspection.

Kahnawà:ke monitoring situation

Lloyd Phillips, commissioner of public safety for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke, said Kahnawà:ke first responders were quickly on the scene assessing the situation after the ship ran aground. 

Since then, the council has been in close contact with St. Lawrence Seaway and Coast Guard officials. 

Safety is a priority for the small Kanien'kehá:ka community in a situation like this one, said Phillips. For example, Kahnawà:ke's hospital sits on the canal bank, where dozens of cargo ships go by every day, he explained.

 A shipping disaster is something that is always on people's minds, Phillips said.

"This is a best case scenario out of a worst case situation," he said. 

"The situation could have been much, much worse if it was [carrying] a hazardous material, or there was a breach in the hull."

Landon Goodleaf, member of the Kahnawà:ke Marina, was sitting outside with friends when they saw the ship lose control.

"We heard a 'bang, bang, bang' and it was ripping along the side of the shore," he said. "It was unreal. You don't see that every day, a big ship losing control."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cassandra Yanez-Leyton is a journalist for CBC News based in Montreal. You can email her story ideas at [email protected].

With files from Sharon Yonan-Renold and Radio-Canada

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