A luxury superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the vessel early Monday morning, killing one passenger and leaving six others missing — including two Americans – officials said.
The 160-foot luxury sailboat with 22 people aboard sank off the port of Porticello when it was hit by a violent storm at sunrise, the Italian Coast Guard said.
One body – the crew’s chef – was found near the capsized ship, but six others were missing Monday morning.
Out of the wreckage, fifteen persons were saved by crew members of the Sir Robert B P, a Dutch-flagged ship that was sailing right next to the sunken vessel. Eight of the survivors—among them a one-year-old child—were brought to nearby hospitals. The Italian media stated that everyone was in stable condition.
Rescue boats and a helicopter from the Italian Coast Guard, Carabinieri, fire rescue, and civil protection agency were on the scene early on Monday in an attempt to locate anyone who had not been accounted for.
The enormous yacht known as the “Bayesian” is registered under the British flag and has a top speed of fifteen knots. According to the Italian coast guard, it had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, including British, American and Canadian citizens.
According to the vessel monitoring software Vesselfinder, the boat departed the Sicilian town of Milazzo on August 14 and was last seen east of Palermo on Sunday night.
