Marine experts have started the recovery of a superyacht from the seabed off the Italian coast.
The British-flagged Bayesian sank near Sicily last summer, killing tech business tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.
The recovery will be carried out by two floating cranes – Hebo Lift 2 and Hebo Lift 10.
The latter is one of the most powerful maritime cranes in Europe and arrived from Rotterdam at the port of Termini Imerese in Sicily on Saturday.
Operations are being supervised by the Italian coast guard, who are also ensuring the safety of personnel working on the recovery.
The recovery effort is expected to last somewhere between 20 and 25 days, before investigators start examining the wreckage.
The captain and two crew members are under investigation in connection with the sinking on 19 August last year.
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The superyacht, which was 183ft long and weighed 473 tonnes, sank after what appears to have been a sudden powerful burst of wind from a thunderstorm.
Coast guard captain Nicola Silvestri said the yacht’s 246ft aluminium mast, the second tallest in the world, will be cut to allow the hull to be brought to the surface more easily.
In addition to 59-year-old Mr Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, chairman of investment banking company Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and wife Neda, and the ship’s cook Recaldo Thomas died in the incident.
In the initial rescue phase, 15 of the 22 people were taken to safety, one body was recovered, and six others were reported missing.
The bodies of the six reported missing were found during a significant search effort, which continued until 23 August.
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At a pre-inquest review into the deaths of Mr Lynch, Miss Lynch and Mr and Mrs Bloomer last month, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said it hoped to publish its interim report in the coming weeks.
Its principal investigator, Simon Graves, told the hearing the organisation was “relatively early” in its investigation, with its final report due to follow in a matter of “months, not weeks”.
