Specialist divers resumed the search on Tuesday for six people, including British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch, 59, and his teenage daughter, who went missing after their luxury yacht sank after a tornado struck off the coast of Sicily.
The British-flagged Bayesian, which had 22 people on board, capsized about 5am on Monday after being battered during intense storms off the coast of Palermo.
Firefighter divers trained to work in tight spaces were flown in from Rome and Sardinia late on Monday. Officials in southern Italy said the missing were now feared dead aboard the sunken wreckage of a luxury yacht.
“Never say never is our motto,” Vincenzo Zagarola, spokesperson for the Italian Coastguard, said. “But, at this point, it would be reasonable to think that we are more likely to find the missing people inside the boat.”
But a first search of the wreck about 50 metres below the sea surface failed because they were unable to access the below-deck cabins that had become blocked by overturned furniture.
“Access was limited only to the bridge, with difficulty due to the presence of furniture obstructing passage,” the firefighters said on X.
They returned on Tuesday to tag-team in 12-minute underwater search shifts where the yacht sank. The rotating search teams, each made up of two specialised cave divers, were working to open up other access points to enter the wreckage.
Rescue crews said they assume the six passengers will be found in the cabins, given the time of the shipwreck.
A body, believed to be that of the vessel's chef, Ricardo Thomas, was discovered at the scene on Monday.
Feared dead
Mr Lynch and his daughter Hannah, 18, who The Times reported had secured a place to study English literature at the University of Oxford, are feared dead.
The school Hannah attended, Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, London, said on Tuesday it was in shock at the news that the former pupil and her father were missing.
The school told The National: "We are all incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic incident and our thoughts are with their family and everyone involved as we await further updates."
His close friend, Morgan Stanley International Bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, is also missing, as is Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo. The wives of both men are also unaccounted for, according to authorities in Sicily.
They were invited on the trip to celebrate Mr Lynch’s recent acquittal of fraud charges in the US.
The tragedy came only days after the death of Mr Lynch’s former colleague and co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain. The former vice president of finance at Autonomy was hit by a car in the UK while out running on Saturday and placed on life support but later died.
Intense storms
Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation into the sinking.
Four inspectors have also been sent by the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch to conduct a “preliminary assessment”. A basic assessment of the scene will be made by the team, with no investigation launched at this stage.
One expert at the scene of the disaster, who declined to be named, said an early focus of an investigation would be whether the yacht's crew had had time to close access hatches into the vessel before the storm struck.
More thunderstorms are forecast on Tuesday in Sicily. Italy is hit by about 100 tornadoes a year, according to AtmosphericG2, a company that provides weather data to traders. On average, more than 70 are “marine spouts,” occurring off the coast, with another 30 onshore.
Acquitted
Mr Lynch, who co-founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to enterprise in 2006.
He was acquitted by a jury in San Francisco of fraud charges linked to the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP)for $11 billion in 2011.
The sale cemented his reputation as Britain's answer to Bill Gates but it quickly turned sour after HP wrote down Autonomy's value by $8.8 billion.
Mr Lynch said he was “elated” to be cleared in the criminal trial, during which he took the stand in his own defence, denying to jurors any wrongdoing and blaming HP for botching the integration of the two companies.
Mr Bloomer, who is also chairman of insurance provider Hiscox, appeared as a defence witness in the case for Mr Lynch, according to the Financial Times. Mr Lynch appointed Mr Bloomer to Autonomy’s board of directors in 2010, where he served as chairman of the audit committee at the time of the HP deal.
Night of panic
Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, were rescued.
Another survivor, British guest Charlotte Golunski, said she lost hold of her one-year-old daughter in the waves “for two seconds”, before managing to grab her “while the sea raged”.
“It was terrible. The boat was hit by really strong wind and shortly after it went down,” she said.
“Lots of people were screaming” in the dark, said Ms Golunski, who managed to clamber on to a life raft.
Ayla Ronald, a New Zealand citizen working at Clifford Chance in London, also survived. Her father Lin Ronald confirmed to The Telegraph she had been invited on board as thanks for assistance in Mr Lynch's recent court case.
“I have texted my daughter and she hasn't given me any updates about missing personnel or saved personnel. She has only said that there are deaths and she and her partner are alive,” he said.
“Ayla is a lawyer who is part of the legal team that were invited to go sailing as a result of the success in the recent United States court case.”
The 56-metre yacht was carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers. It was anchored 700 metres from Porticello when it was struck by a waterspout, a column that descends from a cloud to form a rotating mixture of wind and water, often during severe thunderstorms.
World's tallest mast
Experts suspect the yacht's 75-metre high mast – which was the tallest aluminium sailing mast in the world, according to the Charter World website – may have caused it to sink by snapping in the storm, forcing the vessel to roll.
Fabio Cefalu, a fisherman who witnessed the freak storm, told Italian media he stayed on site for several hours.
“After 10 minutes we saw a flare in the sky, we waited about 10 minutes to see the intensity of the tornado and we went out to sea,” he said.
“We were first to give rescue but we found no one at sea, we only found cushions and the remains of the boat.”
Karsten Borner, the captain of a nearby boat, said there was a “very strong hurricane gust” and he had to battle to keep his vessel steady.
He saw the Bayesian's mast “bend and then snap”, according to Italy's Corriere della Sera daily newspaper.
His crew took on board some survivors who were on a life raft, three of whom were seriously injured. “I think they are inside, all the missing people,” he added.
A spokesman for the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said on Monday: “We are in contact with the local authorities following an incident in Sicily and stand ready to provide consular support to British nationals affected.”
The Bayesian completed a number of sailings in recent days, calling at various ports in Sicily, according to ship-tracking website VesselFinder.
The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites.
It was built in 2008 by Italian company Perini Navi and named after the Bayesian theory – a mathematical formula for determining conditional probability – which was the topic of Mr Lynch's doctorate thesis.
Mr Lynch is of Irish heritage but was born in Ilford in east London and raised in England.
RESULT
Everton 2 Huddersfield Town 0
Everton: Sigurdsson (47'), Calvert-Lewin (73')
Man of the Match: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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MATCH INFO
England 2
Cahill (3'), Kane (39')
Nigeria 1
Iwobi (47')
Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
