Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer among those missing after Sicily superyacht disaster

20 August 2024 , 08:28

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Italian rescuers are searching for the remaining missing people ( Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer was confirmed to be among those missing in the Sicily superyacht disaster, which has also seen British tech tycoon Mike Lynch disappear

Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer has been named as one of the several people still missing after a superyacht sank off the Italian coast.

The luxury Bayesian vessel, owned by tech tycoon Mike Lynch, also known as the "British Bill Gates," sank during a storm off the coast of Sicily at about 5am local time on Monday. At the time of the disaster, the Bayesian was understood to have 22 people aboard, including British, American and Canadian citizens. 

Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer was named as one of those missing (Image: Getty Images)

Others who have also been listed as missing include Lynch, 59, his 18-year-old daughter, Lynch’s lawyer Christopher Morvilla and his wife Nada.

Italian rescuers resumed their search for the missing at about 6:30am local time today, according to Italian outlet La Reppublica. The yacht, with 10 crew and 12 passengers aboard, sank about 765 yards from Porticello, just south west of Palermo.

Witnesses told the Italian news agency Ansa that the vessel’s anchor had been down during the storm, which in turn caused the mast to snap and lose balance. The wreckage has sunk to a depth of about 54 yards and rescuers are preparing to search it for those still missing, the BBC reported.

Rescuers have managed to rescue several of those who were aboard at the time of the disaster. They have been named locally as: Sasha Murray, Irish, 29; Frenchman Matthew Griffith, 22, captain of the boat; James Caulfield, New Zealander, 51; Ayla Ronald, 36, from London; and Myin Kyaw Htun, 39, from Myanmar. 

British investigators are set to arrive in Palermo today after being sent by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch to assist with the search and rescue operation.

Mike Lynch was named as those who were still missing ( Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The disaster comes after Lynch was cleared earlier this year of conducting massive fraud over the sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard, back in 2011. His co-defendant during the trial, Stephen Chamberlain, was separately confirmed to have died after he was struck by a car on Saturday.

Chamberlain died after being fatally struck while he was out jogging in Cambridgeshire. According to the Guardian, Chamberlain’s lawyer said: "He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity, and we deeply miss him. He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family.”

James Smith