Mike Lynch’s Bayesian Superyacht Lifted From Ocean Floor

The recovery of the superyacht of British tech entrepreneur Dr Mike Lynch has been completed, after a complex salvage operation.

The Associated Press reported that the Bayesian superyacht was successfully raised on Saturday 21 June, after its sinking last August which claimed the lives of seven of the 22 people onboard, including Dr Lynch and his daughter.

Bayesian had been owned by the Lynch family, but it had capsized and sunk in the early hours of Monday 19 August 2024, off the coast of Sicily during a freak storm.

Bayesian sinking, recovery

All onboard had all been celebrating Dr Lynch’s acquittal in a US criminal trial.

Rescue divers eventually discovered six bodies within the wreck itself, including 59 year old Dr Lynch and his 18-year old daughter Hannah; Jonathan Bloomer, non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International and his wife Judy Bloomer; Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Lynch and his wife Neda Morvillo.

In May 2025 when the recovery effort began, a diver who had worked for a specialist salvage company, died underwater at the site located offshore at Porticello, Sicily.

Now the Associated Press reported that the 56-meter (184-foot) Bayesian superyacht was raised clear from the ocean, covered in mud and algae by a yellow floating crane barge. It will be brought ashore for further investigation to determine the exact cause of the sinking.

Italian authorities are conducting a full criminal investigation.

“The hull of the superyacht Bayesian has today been successfully and safely recovered from the sea off the coast of northern Sicily,” TMC Maritime, the company conducting the recovery, was quoted as saying. “This follows a delicate lifting procedure that began early today.”

TMC added that the hull will continue to be held “in an elevated position to allow expert salvage personnel to complete checks and preparations” ahead of its transportation into the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese on Sunday.

British investigators said in an interim report issued last month that the superyacht had been knocked over by “extreme wind” and couldn’t recover.

Bayesian had sought to shelter when it was hit by the storm and began dragging its anchor.

Wind speeds exceeded 70 knots (81 mph) at the time of the sinking and “violently” knocked the vessel over to a 90-degree angle in under 15 seconds.

Damage claim

Meanwhile the legal case involving Hewlett-Packard (now HPE) seeking damages from the estate of Dr Lynch continues.

At the time of Lynch’s death, Hewlett-Packard was pursing a $4bn (£2.95bn) claim in potential damages against him.

A US trial against Lynch had stemmed from Hewlett-Packard’s disastrous $11 billion (£8.7bn) acquisition of Autonomy in 2011. The acquisition resulted in bitter mud slinging after HP filed an $8.8bn write-down of Autonomy in 2012.

HP alleged at the time that the majority of that charge, more than $5 billion, had resulted from a number of practices allegedly used by former members of Autonomy’s management team to inflate the value of the company and mislead investors and potential buyers at the time of the acquisition.

In the end, Dr Lynch was acquitted of criminal fraud charges in the US, but he lost a 2022 civil case in the UK, which could have left him liable for up to $4 billion in damages.

There had been speculation that HPE would abandon its case against Lynch, owing to the potential for negative PR from pursuing Lynch’s grieving widow, Bacares, for damages.

However HPE has previously confirmed it would see the case through to its conclusion of a settlement.