Tragedy struck off the coast of Palermo, Sicily, as a superyacht carrying mostly Britons was caught in a tornado and sank early Monday morning.
At least one person has been confirmed dead, and six others were still missing after the 49-meter (160ft) luxury vessel went under the water. Among those rescued is a one-year-old girl, who, along with 14 others, was pulled from the wreckage.
The yacht, reportedly named “Bayesian,” was anchored near the Porticello port when the tornado struck around 5am local time (4am UK time). According to witnesses, the vessel was illuminated and appeared to be enjoying a normal day of vacation before the storm turned it into a nightmare. “The boat was all lit up. At about 4:30am, it was gone,” one witness told the Italian news outlet Giornale di Sicilia. “A beautiful boat where there had been a party. A normal day of vacation spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy.”
The vessel, flying a British flag, had been carrying a mix of nationalities, including a New Zealander, a Sri Lankan, two French citizens, and an Irish citizen. The Corriere Della Sera reported that the body of a man was found next to the yacht by divers this morning. Salvo Cocina, the head of the Civil Protection of Sicily, mentioned that divers saw “corpses through the portholes” of the superyacht, indicating the severity of the situation.
The yacht had set sail from the port of Milazzo last Wednesday and was last tracked east of Palermo last night, with a status of “at anchor.” Despite the severe weather forecast, there was no indication of an extreme event like a tornado. Matthew Schanck, the chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, told Sky News, “There was nothing that was too concerning from my eye so all in all, the captain, using the information that he had, made what he or she deems to be a safe call.”
Rescue efforts are ongoing, with specialist divers from Napoli, Cagliari, and Sassari joining the search. A helicopter and rescue boats from the coastguard and fire rescue service have also been deployed. The yacht is estimated to be about 50 meters underwater, complicating the search for the six missing individuals.
The British mother of the one-year-old girl who was rescued shared her harrowing experience. “For two seconds, I lost my daughter in the sea,” the 35-year-old said. Despite the chaos, she managed to grab hold of her daughter again. “I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was in a tempest,” she recalled. “Many people screamed. Luckily, the lifeboat inflated, and 11 of us were able to get on board.”
Camper & Nicholsons International, the yacht’s management company, confirmed in a statement that the vessel was caught in “severe weather and subsequently sank” near Palermo. They noted that 12 guests and 10 crew members were on board and that their priority was assisting with the ongoing search and providing support to the rescued passengers and crew.
The United Kingdom’s Foreign Office has stated, “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 storm that caused the tragedy was a fierce one, including waterspouts, which are tornado-like formations that develop over water. The extreme weather events, although rare, are known to occur around 30 days a year in the Mediterranean, mainly during the summer and autumn seasons.
