A sailboat of about 50 meters with 22 people on board sank around 5 am today, August 19, in the sea area in front of Porticello, in the province of Palermo. The cause is bad weather. 15 were rescued by coast guard patrol boats and firefighters. Six people are missing. The body of a man, identified near the boat, was recovered by divers. The boat sank between 4 and 5 am due to a storm that reached the area. Divers from the fire brigade and the Messina coast guard diving unit have already dived to reach the hull, at a depth of 49 meters about 800 meters from the coast. Two helicopters are flying over the accident area, one from the Catania fire brigade and the other from the coast guard, which are facilitating the search from above. The carabinieri, 118 and civil protection welcome the survivors.
The accident
The sailboat flies the English flag and is called Bayesan. On board were mostly British, but also a New Zealander, a Sri Lankan, two Anglo-French and an Irishman. In total, according to what was ascertained by the Port Authority, there were 10 crew members and 12 passengers on board the boat. The divers of the fire brigade and the soldiers of the Harbour Master's Office rescued a one-year-old child who was taken with his mother to the Children's Hospital in Palermo. The father was taken to the Civic Hospital, while 5 other people are in the emergency room in Bagheria. Among the missing, the only member of the crew is the cook; in addition to him, other British, a Canadian and two Americans are reported missing. The rescuers do not rule out that the six missing people were inside the huts at the time of the disaster and that they were therefore trapped there. The investigations are being conducted by the Port Authority. In the next few hours, the fifteen survivors and the captain, currently very upset by what happened, will be heard. The boat was in the port of Porticello; left yesterday evening. The whirlwind would have knocked over the mast with the sail, causing the ship to lose its balance. Next to the boat, which later sank, was the Dutch ship Sir Robert BP which rescued the survivors.
Witnesses: “There was a whirlwind. The anchor was lowered”
In Ansa, a fisherman from Porticello, Pietro Asciutto, explained: “I was at home when the tornado happened. I immediately closed all the windows. Then I saw the boat, it had only one mast, it was very big. I saw it sink suddenly. I think the whirlwind came from Porticello, shortly after I went down to the bay of Santa Nicolicchia to see better what was happening. The boat was still floating, then suddenly it disappeared. I saw it sink with my own eyes.” The fishermen sounded the alarm, as sailor Fabio Cefalù told ANSA: “Around 3:55 we witnessed the whirlwind. After a quarter of an hour we saw a rocket 500 meters from the dock. Around 4:35 p.m. we put to sea to help, but we only saw the remains of the floating boat. There was no man overboard. So we immediately called the harbor master's office.” According to some witnesses who witnessed the accident and are now helping investigators with the reconstruction, the sailboat had “anchor down” and was at anchor, that is, it was near a cove near the port. “That boat was all lit up – says a witness – Around 4:30 in the morning, it was no longer there. A beautiful boat where there had been a party. A normal holiday day spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy. The boat was not far from the port. It didn't take much to weigh anchor and head to port. Obviously, they were surprised by the storm that suddenly struck and were unable to avoid sinking.”
The Bayesian
The Bayesian is a 56-metre sailing yacht with a gross tonnage of 473 tonnes, built by the Perini Navi Viareggio shipyard in February 2008, renovated in 2020, and designed for luxury travel. According to Vessel Finder, the boat arrived in Porticello after a stopover in Milazzo and a passage in front of Cefalù. The deck area is 436 square metres and the six cabins occupy an area of 143 square metres. According to the builder, the owner and 11 guests can be accommodated on board in addition to the 10 crew members. Bayesian is built with an aluminium hull and superstructure, with teak decks. Powered by two 965 hp MTU 8-cylinder diesel engines, it sails at 12 knots and reaches a maximum speed of 15 knots. The boat has the second tallest mast in the world and the largest aluminium mast of 75 metres.
On the cover: ANSA/Perini Navi I A Bayesian model of Perini Navi, like the sailboat that sank in the Palermo region, August 19, 2024
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