Italy To Begin Raising Sunken Superyacht

Rome: Italian authorities said Wednesday they would begin this weekend to raise the superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing British tech mogul Mike Lynch and six others.

The first recovery equipment was set to arrive on May 3, the coastguard said in a statement, with the whole operation expected to last 20 to 25 days.

The luxury 56-metre (185-foot) "Bayesian" yacht was struck by a pre-dawn storm on August 19 as it was anchored off Porticello, near Palermo.

It sank within minutes, killing Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and five others.

The project will be carried out by specialised contractors and use a "special floating crane" designed to lift heavy loads, the coastguard said.

"Before the ship is raised, for safety reasons, the mast will be cut," the statement said.

Once the yacht is brought to the surface, it will be turned over to judicial authorities, it added.

Inquests into the deaths of the five British victims are currently being held in Ipswich, in eastern England.

In Italy, prosecutors in Termini Imerese have opened investigations into the captain and three others on suspicion of manslaughter and the crime of negligent shipwreck.

The yacht, which was struck by something akin to a mini-tornado, currently lies on its side on the seabed, some 50 metres below the surface.

There were 22 passengers on board, including 12 crew and 10 guests, when the yacht sank.

Lynch, the 59-year-old founder of software firm Autonomy, had invited friends and family onto the boat to celebrate his recent acquittal in a huge US fraud case.

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