bill gates old yacht

A Closer Look at Serene: The $330 Million Yacht Bill Gates Chartered

While many people must scrimp and save to afford a family holiday, that is not the case for the rich and famous, who have the financial means to go wherever they want whenever they want. You will not find them in budget motels or trying out a destination’s free attractions. Instead, wealthy people can choose the most luxurious accommodation and unique experiences possible for their vacation. One such person who can afford these luxuries is Bill Gates who, with a personal net worth of $95.4 billion, is the second richest person in the world. He has even chartered a yacht worth $330 million to enjoy a vacation with his family.

According to Boat International , Gates chartered a yacht called ‘Serene’ for an estimated $5 million per week. He did this to enjoy a break away with his wife and three children. The family enjoyed a week together on the yacht just off the coast of Porto Cervo, Sardinia, in August 2014.

The 133-foot yacht is one of the largest in the world, and it is owned by Yuri Scheffler, the Stolichnaya vodka magnet. This yacht was delivered to him in 2011, and he has had it on the charter market ever since. Built by the Italian shipyard Fincantieri, it has a rather impressive crew of 53 to take care of the needs of those who charter the yacht. So, what is on the inside of this ship to make it such an amazing experience that is worthy of the high price tag?

The Yacht Charter Fleet has ways for its travelers to enjoy activities both off and onboard. The helipad is available so that guests can take trips to the mainland to enjoy a little sightseeing, a meal in a restaurant, or a local activity. There are also jet-skis available for some fun one the waves around the boat or to travel back to the mainland to enjoy some time away from the yacht. Furthermore, the yacht has its very own submarine. However, you might wonder why anyone would want to get away from the yacht when there is so much to enjoy onboard, including activities for children. Just some of the activities and amenities on board for entertainment include a climbing wall, a trans-deck waterslide, a snow room, a playroom, multiple pools, and a cinema. This means that there are plenty of things onboard to keep the children entertained.

This yacht is not all about the kids having fun, as there are plenty of things for the adults, too. In fact, Serene has a myriad of amenities spread over its six decks that make this a unique way to vacation. From the outside, one of the ship’s most impressive features is its supersized bathtub on the sun deck. The award-winning Serene has a private beach club that has a secluded sunbathing area and a sauna. There are also two Jacuzzis and a sundeck dance floor. Opposite the relaxing hot tun tucked underneath the ship’s observational deck is a fully stocked wet bar with extra sun loungers.

Two of the indoor living and entertaining spaces include a cocktail lounge and a piano bar, while outdoor there are various al fresco dining areas, such as a wet bar, a barbeque, a Teppanyaki grill, and a pizza oven. An unusual space in this yacht is the underwater observation lounge, which many people would find a relaxing area as they watch marine life existing in tranquility around them. Serene also has rather impressive accommodation and it can accommodate up to 24 guests. There are 12 luxurious staterooms, include a master suite, a VIP suite, seven double suites, and three twin cabins. The interior design is the work of Espen Oeino with styling by Reymond Langton. The duo has created living spaces that are stylish and opulent while also being comfortable and versatile.

One of the most impressive areas in terms of styling is the sky lounge. This room is decorated in shades of cream that is accented by darker colors and finished with wooden fixtures. It is equipped with sofas, chairs, and coffee tables for relaxing, and boasts some of the most impressive views from the ship which you can view from almost any vantage point. Another fantastic space is the main lounge, which is a more formal area for entertaining. The main color used is white, which gives the room a bright and airy feel, and some warmth is added with darker tones. Central to the room is a piano, which is surrounded by cocktail tables. An unusual feature of this room is its chandelier. The lounge is located directly above the main dining area, and the chandelier drops between the two rooms.

A double staircase leads down to the chic dining area below. It is set to accommodate a maximum of 24 guests and features two 12-seater tables. However, there is the possibility of entertaining even more people as the tables are extendable and there is plenty of space. This means you can host a banquet in this room. Floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides of the rooms give spectacular panoramic ocean views.

Bill Gates’ time on the yacht with his family is part of his plan to take a more relaxed approach to life and to spend some time away from the office. He has said that he doesn’t have the energy he had when he was younger and plans to balance running his Microsoft Empire and enjoying time with his family better now that he is older. This includes taking vacations away with his loved one. Serene and other chartered yachts are the perfect way for this billionaire businessman to relax and have some fun in comfort and privacy.

Since Gates’ vacation on the yacht, Scheffler has sold the superyacht to Mohammed bin Salman, the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia says Yacht Harbor . The Saudi Arabian royal paid a whopping $458 million for the yacht in July 2015. The yacht was once the ninth largest in the world, but it has now dropped into the 15th place because even more impressive superyachts have been built since.

Liz Flynn has worked as a full-time writer since 2010 after leaving a career in education. She finds almost all topics she writes about interesting, but her favorite subjects are travel and food. Liz loves the process of researching information, learning new things, and putting into words what others who share her interests might like to read. Although she spends most of her time writing, she also enjoys spending time with her husband and four children, watching films, cooking, dining out, reading, motorsports, gaming, and walking along the beach next to her house with her dog.

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Who was onboard tech mogul Mike Lynch's Bayesian yacht?

Topic: Disasters, Accidents and Emergency Incidents

Six people are missing, including a man dubbed the British Bill Gates, after a luxury yacht sank off the Sicilian coast.

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch — freshly acquitted from a decade-long trial — had invited his work colleagues aboard a trip through the Mediterranean coast when a freak storm saw the yacht sink within moments.

Fifteen people escaped from the sinking vessel. The search for the missing continues.

Here's what we know so far: 

What happened?

The Italian coastguard said the yacht — the Bayesian — was anchored off the shore of port city Porticello, near the Sicilian capital Palermo, when it was hit by bad weather sometime after 4am on Monday, local time. 

Eyewitnesses said it vanished quickly beneath the waves shortly before dawn.

Managers of the sailing vessel Bayesian, Camper & Nicholsons, confirmed to the ABC that the Bayesian encountered severe weather and subsequently sank. 

"Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew," they said. 

"The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude," a coastguard official told Reuters.

Sicily's civil protection agency head, Salvo Cocina, said a waterspout — a tornado over the water — could have struck the yacht.

"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Mr Cocina added. 

Storms and heavy rainfall had swept down Italy in recent days after weeks of scorching heat, lifting the temperature of the Mediterranean Sea to record levels and raising the risk of extreme weather conditions, experts told Reuters.

"The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius, which is almost 3 degrees more than normal. This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms," meteorologist Luca Mercalli said.

Rescuers recover the body of one of the people aboard the Bayesian.  ( AP: Lucio Ganci )

Captain Karsten Borner of the Sir Robert Baden Powell vessel told journalists he noticed the Bayesian nearby during the storm, but after it calmed he saw a red flare and realised the ship had simply disappeared.

Mr Borner said he and a crew member boarded their tender and found a lifeboat with 15 people, some of them injured, who they then took aboard and alerted the coast guard.

Search crews, including helicopters and divers, are continuing to search the wreckage, lying at a depth of 49 metres.

Specialist divers reached the ship on Monday but access was limited due to objects in the way, the fire brigade said.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch is deploying a team of four inspectors to Italy to conduct a preliminary assessment.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development office said it was "providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families".

Sicilian prosecutors have also opened an investigation into the event. 

Who is missing?

Lawyer Chris Morvillo (left), entrepreneur Mike Lynch, and Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer are among the missing. 

There were 12 passengers and 10 crew members aboard the yacht. 

Mr Cocina said the crew and passengers hailed from a variety of countries, including Britain, the United States, Antigua, France, Germany, Ireland, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain.

Of the 22, one man is confirmed dead and another six people are still missing. 

They are believed to be inside the hull, fire rescue spokesperson Luca Cari said.

Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman who said he responded to a flare from the vessel but found it sunk, said he stayed at the site for three hours without finding anyone.

"I think they are inside, all the missing people," he said.

Rescue teams recovered the body of the yacht's onboard chef on Monday, identified as Antiguan citizen Ricardo Thomas.

The still missing people include: 

• Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah 
• Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of global financial services company Morgan Stanley International
• Chris Morvillo , a lawyer at the British multinational law firm Clifford Chance. He worked on Mr Lynch's lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard
• The identities of the remaining two missing are still unconfirmed

Who was rescued? 

Fifteen people escaped from the sinking ship. 

Eight have been hospitalised and others were taken to a nearby hotel.

Charlotte Golunski was among those rescued, recalling the harrowing moments she held her child Sofia above the waves.  ( Supplied: Facebook  )

Among those rescued were:

• Mr Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, who was the owner of the yacht
• Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter, Sofia. Ms Golunski is a partner at Mr Lynch's firm, Invoke Capital. She says she momentarily lost hold of Sofia in the water but managed to hold her up above the waves until the lifeboat was inflated
• Ms Golunski's husband James Emslie
• New Zealand captain of the yacht James Catfield. He told Italian newspaper La Repubblica the crew didn't see the storm coming
• A lone Dutch citizen was identified by the Dutch foreign ministry as being rescued, but was not identified

Who is Mike Lynch?

Mr Lynch, once hailed as Britain’s king of technology, was recently freed from a Silicon Valley lawsuit that tarnished his legacy. 

The 59-year-old Cambridge-educated mathematician created Autonomy , a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly. 

He received the OBE for his innovation in 2006. 

He then sold the software to Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $US11 billion ($16 billion) in 2011, with Mr Lynch personally netting $US800 million. 

HP valued Autonomy at $US46 billion ($68 billion) in the months leading up to the deal.

Mike Lynch in 2019 leaving the High Court in London.  ( Reuters: Henry Nicholls/File Photo )

But the deal quickly turned sour after he was accused of forging the software's financial records to make the sale.

As part of a decades-long legal battle against HP, Mr Lynch was extradited to the UK on criminal fraud charges. 

He steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he was being made a scapegoat for HP's own bungling. 

He was eventually cleared of all charges in June this year. 

Although he avoided a possible prison sentence, Lynch still faced a bill from a civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven't been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $US4 billion. 

Following the San Francisco trial, Mr Lynch said he would return to the UK and do what he loved most: "[being with] my family and innovating in my field."

The holiday appeared to be something of a celebration after Mr Lynch's acquittal, with guests including some of the people who had stood by Lynch throughout the ordeal.

This picture shows the rescue operations off the Sicilian coast.  ( AP: Italian Coast Guard  )

In a separate act of tragedy, Mr Lynch's co-defendant in the trial, Stephen Chamberlain, died on Monday, after a road accident left him critically injured.

Mr Chamberlain — Autonomy's former vice-president of finance alongside Mr Lynch — was hit by a car in Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning and had been placed on life support. 

What is the Bayesian?

The luxury yacht is 56m long sailboat, with a 75m mast labelled as the tallest aluminium mast in the world.

It was previously named Salute when it flew under a Dutch flag.

The yacht, built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Navi, can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites and a crew of 10, according to online specialist yacht sites. It was last refitted in 2020.

Online charter sites listed it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $AU 321,000) a week. 

This picture taken on Sunday shows the Bayesian (left) and the Duch sailboat Sir Robert Baden Powell anchored off the coast line.   ( AP: Fabio La Bianca/Baia Santa Nicolicchia )

The ship also won a string of awards for its design. 

Ms Golunski said the yacht had travelled through the Aeolian Islands, Milazzo and Cefalù before sinking. 

It is likely the yacht's name would resonate with Mr Lynch because his PhD thesis and the software that made his fortune was based on Bayesian theory.

Mike Lynch and daughter among missing after yacht sinks: What we know about disaster - and 'alarming' potential cause

The British-flagged luxury vessel named Bayesian was carrying 22 people when it got into difficulty off the coast of Sicily. Seven bodies have now been recovered from the wreckage.

News reporter @samuelosborne93

Friday 23 August 2024 12:24, UK

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Seven bodies have been found after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily.

Twenty-two people were on board the vessel named Bayesian when it got into difficulty in the early hours of Monday, with 15 people rescued.

Here's what we know about the sinking of the luxury vessel so far.

Follow latest updates on the superyacht sinking

What might have caused the sinking?

The British-flagged luxury vessel, named Bayesian, capsized at around 4.30am local time on Monday morning off Palermo, according to ship-tracking site Marine Traffic.

It sank in as little as 60 seconds with 22 people on board, 12 passengers and a crew of 10, according to the Italian coastguard.

Waterspouts, essentially tornados that form over water, were seen as powerful winds battered the area overnight, local media said.

The yacht may have sunk faster with all the doors open due to the hot weather, Sailing Today magazine editor Sam Jefferson has said.

"I imagine all the doors were open because it was hot, so there were enough hatches and doors open that it filled with water very quickly and sank like that," he said.

Official pictures show air conditioning units in several of the rooms, however, which could counter the suggestion open windows caused the vessel to sink faster.

The huge mast is also likely to have played a role, he added.

What are waterspouts?

Waterspouts typically occur during thunderstorms and can develop very rapidly, within minutes.

Their spin generally reaches wind speeds between 75-200mph, but can reach as high as 300mph.

They can travel at about 10-20mph typically but can reach greater speeds, making them difficult to avoid - especially in something as slow-moving as a yacht.

Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, called the reports of a tornado or waterspout "rare" and "quite alarming".

"The vessel was at anchor in a recognised anchorage," Mr Schanck said.

"Depending on wind direction and the state of the sea, this informs the captain whether it is a safe area to anchor or not. There was nothing that was too concerning, for my eye. All in all, the captain used the information they had to make a safe call."

Who owns the yacht?

The yacht belonged to the family of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch. He was confirmed to have died after rescuers found his body on Thursday. Mr Lynch was on holiday with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who is still missing, and his wife Angela Bacares, who was rescued.

Mr Lynch, 59, was known as the " British Bill Gates " and has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.

In June, a US jury cleared him of all charges, which were related to the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP). The yacht trip is believed to have been a celebration of the end of Mr Lynch's legal troubles.

HP accused him of deliberately overstating the value of the company before it was acquired by the American tech giant.

Mr Lynch was extradited to the US to face trial in May last year and spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco as he awaited trial on 17 charges of conspiracy and wire fraud brought by the US Department of Justice - which were later reduced to 15 charges. He always denied any wrongdoing and was acquitted.

Read more: Lynch's co-defendant dies days before yacht sinking

Who was on board when the boat sank?

The passengers were largely British and American, with crew members were from New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada.

Charlotte Golunski was among the Britons rescued. Her LinkedIn profile says she is a partner at Mr Lynch's firm Invoke Capital and has worked there since 2012.

Speaking after the ordeal, Ms Golunski told Italian media that she lost her daughter Sofia for "two seconds" amid the "fury" of the sea but was able to retrieve her. She said she held the infant above the waves until the lifeboat was ready.

"Many people screamed. Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us were able to get on board," she told ANSA.

The girl's father James Emsley also survived, according to Sicily's civil protection agency.

Also on board were Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley, his wife Judy Bloomer, a top US lawyer Chris Morvillo, who worked on Mr Lynch's criminal case, and his wife Neda Morvillo. Divers confirmed on Thursday that their bodies had been recovered.

The yacht's captain James Cutfield survived, along with South African crew members Leah Randall and Katja Chicken.

Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan chef who was working on the boat, was the first to be found dead, the Italian Coastguard confirmed to Sky News.

During rescue efforts, divers saw "corpses through the portholes" of the wreck as they recovered the body of a man at a depth of 50m (164ft), according to Salvo Cocina, the head of the Civil Protection of Sicily.

What do we know about the vessel?

The Bayesian is owned by a company controlled by Mr Lynch's wife.

It was known for its unusual 72.3m (246ft) single mast - one of the world's tallest made of aluminium - and shared its name with the statistical method Mr Lynch's Autonomy software was based on.

It was built by Italian company Perini Navi in 2008 and last refitted in 2020.

It was listed for rent for up to €195,000 (£166,000) a week, according to online charter sites.

The luxury vessel , which was managed by yachting company Camper & Nicholsons, could accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites.

It won a string of awards for its design, according to online specialist yacht sites.

Mr Schanck, of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, said the vessel would have been equipped with "high standard" life-saving appliances and radio communications.

He added the yacht would have met all international standards and UK Maritime Coastguard Agency regulations before its voyage.

It was previously named Salute, or "health" in Italian, when it flew under a Dutch flag. Its minimalist interior featured light wood with Japanese accents designed by the French designer Remi Tessier, according to descriptions on charter sites.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

What were its last movements?

The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of "at anchor", according to vessel tracking site VesselFinder.

The Bayesian previously travelled to other parts of Sicily before its last sighting off the coast of the port of Porticello.

On Sunday, the boat was seen off the coast of Cefalu before it travelled towards Porticello, MarineTraffic data shows.

In the days before, the yacht travelled around four of the Aeolian islands, just north of Sicily.

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Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation into the sinking.

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The 16 minutes that plunged the Bayesian yacht into a deadly spiral

Until midnight last Sunday, Matteo Cannia was sitting out on a bench overlooking the sea in Porticello. It was too hot to sleep.

The 78-year-old, a fisherman since the age of 10, saw the first flashes of lightning. "I heard the thunder and the wind and decided to go home," he told me.

"As the storm grew, everyone woke. Water was coming into my friend’s house."

At about 04:15 local time, Fabio Cefalù – a fisherman who had been due to go out that wild Monday morning but, like others, decided against it – suddenly saw a flare go up.

He changed his mind and went out to sea to find out what was going on – and discovered only cushions and floating planks of wood.

A luxury super yacht called the Bayesian, moored only a few hundred metres away, had already sunk.

It all happened in a 16-minute window of disaster , chaos and torment, which catapulted a sleepy Sicilian fishing port to the centre of world news.

All but seven of the 22 people on board the Bayesian - 12 passengers and 10 crew - had scrambled into a life raft as the yacht began to capsize. The others never made it out.

Charlotte Golunski, a British woman, was thrown into the water with her one-year-old daughter, Sophie. She told of clutching her baby in the air with all her strength to keep her from drowning. "It was all black around me," she said, "and the only thing I could hear were the screams of others."

She, her baby, and her husband James were among those rescued by a nearby sailing boat captain. Trapped inside the sinking Bayesian was her colleague Mike Lynch – one of the UK’s top tech entrepreneurs, dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates”.

Luxury turned to terror

Mr Lynch had brought together family, friends and colleagues for an idyllic holiday on his luxury boat: a sumptuous 56-metre (184ft) sailing yacht that won design awards and had the world’s tallest aluminium mast.

In June, he was acquitted after a lengthy trial in the US on charges that he had fraudulently inflated the value of his company, Autonomy, before selling it to Hewlett Packard in 2011. The trip was planned as a celebration of freedom to mark his rehabilitation in public opinion.

Three days after the yacht went down, his body was retrieved by divers from the wreckage.

A day later, the body of his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who was due to begin studying at the University of Oxford next month, was recovered.

Among the others who died were the president of the investment bank Morgan Stanley, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy; Mr Lynch’s lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda; and the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas. Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, survived.

The family has released a statement talking of their “unspeakable grief”, adding they are “devastated and in shock”.

How the super yacht sank so quickly while other smaller vessels nearby survived the storm undamaged has dumbfounded experts.

In a press conference this weekend – the first public statement by officials since the disaster – local prosecutors said they had begun an investigation into potential crimes of manslaughter and negligent shipwreck.

The region’s state prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio told reporters that while the probe was at a very early stage and nobody specific was being investigated, there were “many possibilities for culpability. It could be just the captain. It could be the whole crew… we are absolutely not ruling anything out”.

A small team of British marine investigators has also been sent to Sicily to work with their Italian counterparts.

Prosecutors said that they now believed a downburst was the weather phenomenon that hit the ship: a localised, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads unpredictably.

That contradicted previous reports that had identified the cause as a waterspout , or mini tornado at sea.

Either way, it’s clear extreme weather played a major role.

The crucial 16-minute window

Much of the focus for the investigation team is of course on the conduct of the captain, 51-year-old James Cutfield from New Zealand. He survived, along with eight of his crew, and is being questioned.

“We didn’t see it coming,” he told Italian media, alluding to the storm, in his only public comment so far.

The problem is: plenty of others did. Violent winds and rain were forecast, following days of searing heat. The head of the company that built the Bayesian, Giovanni Costantino, told me he was convinced there had been a litany of errors on board.

“At the back of the boat, a hatch must have been left open,” he said, “but also perhaps a side entrance for water to have poured inside.

"Before the storm, the captain should have closed every opening, lifted anchor, turned on the engine, pointed into the wind and lowered the keel."

A keel is a large, fin-like part of the boat that protrudes from its base.

"That would have stabilised the vessel, they would have been able to traverse the storm and continue their cruise in comfort," he said.

Rescuers instead found the wreckage of the Bayesian 50 metres underwater with its almost 10-metre-long keel raised .

Had it been deployed, it could have helped counter the wind buffeting the Bayesian’s 75-metre high aluminium mast and kept the ship stable. But without it, experts told the newspaper La Repubblica that gusts of 100 kilometres an hour (62mph) would have been enough to capsize the ship – and Monday’s storm far exceeded that.

“The Bayesian was a model for many other vessels because of its stability and exceptionally high performance,” Mr Costantino said. “There was absolutely no problem with it. If water hadn’t surged in, it was unsinkable.”

He told me there were 16 minutes between the power going out on the ship at 03:56 – showing that water was flooding areas with electrical circuits – and the GPS signal being lost, indicating the moment it sank.

That period, along with any measures taken to mitigate the extreme weather, will be pored over by investigators, particularly once they locate the vessel’s black box recorder.

Rino Casilli, one of Sicily’s top ship surveyors, similarly believes that errors may have made the yacht vulnerable to the extreme weather.

“There should have been two members of the crew taking turns to be on watch overnight, given the storm warning,” he told me as he took me out on his boat – around a third of the size of the Bayesian. “And it should have been moored in the harbour, not out at sea.”

Prosecutors say they believe one person was on watch in the cockpit that night.

From Casilli's sailing boat, we gained rare access to the spot where the Bayesian went down.

Around us, an Italian police vessel circulated, warning us back. Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity among divers, as other rescue vessels arrived.

We didn’t know at the time – but they had just located more bodies.

It was an intensely challenging operation for the teams to recover those trapped in the wreckage. Given its depth, at 50 metres underwater, each diver was allowed 10 minutes down before resurfacing for their safety – 120 dives in total. They were assisted by remote control vehicles that could operate on the seabed for far longer.

In this weekend’s press conference, rescuers said the passengers trapped inside during the sinking took refuge in cabins on the ship’s left side, where the last air bubbles formed.

Five of the bodies were found in the first cabin on the left, they said, while the last body – confirmed as Hannah Lynch – was in the third cabin on the left side.

Access for the emergency teams was extremely difficult since the yacht remained largely intact with its furniture obstructing entry.

The coastguard compared it to an “18-storey building full of water”. When Ms Lynch’s body was brought ashore emergency workers on the port applauded their colleagues.

All seven of the dead have been transported to a mortuary for post-mortems.

Rescuers will now need to decide whether – and how – to salvage the wreckage, which would undoubtedly offer vital clues as to what happened. But bringing the Bayesian to the surface could take six to eight weeks and cost 15 million euros (£12.7m) by some estimates.

The hunt for clarity

While the divers’ painstaking work to recover the dead has ended, the investigators’ painful hunt for answers has only begun.

They and the survivors are hunkered down in a hotel close to Porticello, which is strictly off-limits to journalists. Security guards promptly asked us to leave.

Solving the enigma of what happened to the Bayesian will be crucial not only to help loved ones of the victims reach some sort of closure, but also for the maritime industry to draw conclusions.

The brother of James Cutfield, the captain, said he was a “well-respected” sailor who had worked on boats his whole life. Did the experienced sailor somehow make a series of catastrophic errors? The trade union Nautilus, which represents seafarers and captains, called for restraint in passing judgement on the Bayesian’s crew.

"Any attempt to question their conduct without the full facts is not only unfair but also harmful to the process of uncovering the truth and learning any lessons from this tragedy," it said.

The world’s media has begun to leave Porticello, which is gradually returning to the tranquillity of its pre-Bayesian era. Stray cats roam among the old fishing boats, and children play as their families eat out at the few seaside restaurants.

But what has happened over the past week has stunned and scarred many here.

“Last Sunday night, we saw the end of the world in Porticello,” said resident Maria Vizzo. “We’ve never seen something like this. Everyone here is shocked – and everyone is crying.”

Tributes to 'brilliant' Mike and Hannah Lynch as family speak of shock

Bayesian sinking: the key questions for investigators, manslaughter considered by sicily yacht sinking investigators, five things we learned from sicily yacht press conference.

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Bill Gates Enjoys Sardinia Charter on board Superyacht SERENE

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By Editorial Team   8 August 2014

The 133m/436ft superyacht SERENE has welcomed aboard the world’s wealthiest man, Bill Gates and his family for a charter vacation in the beautiful cruising grounds of Sardinia .

The Microsoft founder and philanthropist along with his wife and three children have been enjoying the Mediterranean summer in style this week during their annual vacation off the coast of Porto Cervo. As one of the largest superyachts in the world and equipped with every conceivable amenity in addition to an in impressive crew of 52, the 2011 Fincantieri-built motor yacht SERENE was the perfect choice for this ultra-luxurious vacation.

According to reports in the Daily Mail, the on board helipad was put to good use with trips to the mainland for some tennis lessons followed by an afternoon out on the jet-skis to entertain the kids. If that wasn’t enough, there is also a submarine, snowroom, cinema, playroom, multiple pools, a climbing wall and a trans-deck waterslide on offer to keep them entertained for hours. 

In between running his Microsoft Empire and extensive charity commitments, luxury charter vacations have provided the perfect platform for him and his family to enjoy time together in comfort and privacy.

The grown-ups aren’t left out of the fun however during a charter on the award-winning SERENE, with an exhaustive array of facilities. For total relaxation, the private beach club features a sauna and secluded sunbathing area, there is also a sundeck dance floor, two Jacuzzi’s and numerous al fresco dining areas to choose from. For entertaining meanwhile, SERENE provides luxurious interior living spaces to include a chic piano lounge with cocktail bar while outside a wet bar, barbeque, pizza oven and Teppanyaki grill ensure fantastic Mediterranean soirees. 

She is one of a handful of yachts able to charter with more than 12 guests, boasting 12 stunning staterooms to accommodate up to 24 guests, comprising a master suite, VIP, seven doubles and three twin cabins. With design from Espen Oeino and interior styling by Reymond Langton, SERENE has been meticulously design to offer charter vacations of the highest calibre while ensuring stylish, comfortable and versatile living spaces. 

In an interview earlier this year, Mr Gates said he doesn't plan to stay at the office for days at a time as he did in his younger days when he had 'energy and naiveté' on his side. In between running his Microsoft Empire and extensive charity commitments, luxury charter vacations have provided the perfect platform for him and his family to enjoy time together in comfort and privacy.  Since its founding, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has raised and donated billions towards research and development to tackle problems throughout the world to help the world’s poorest people lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. 

Whether it’s a classic sailing yacht or magnificent luxury vessel such as SERENE, charter yacht vacations offer the world’s most high profile names the freedom to experience private time with loved ones away from the spotlight. Charter rates for SERENE start at €1,600,000 per week to €2,800,000 plus expenses, for further information contact your yacht charter broker . Alternatively take a look at the full selection of motor yachts available for charter . 

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How ‘UK’s Bill Gates’ won court fight after being ‘flown to US in chains’ – only to be caught in yacht horror weeks on

• Ryan Merrifield
• Published : 20:52, 19 Aug 2024
• Updated : 8:12, 20 Aug 2024
• Published : Invalid Date,

'BRITAIN'S Bill Gates' won a court fight after being flown to the US in chains - weeks before being caught in a yacht horror.

Entrepreneur Mike Lynch , 59, and daughter Hannah, 18, are two of the four Brits still missing hours after the £14m luxury vessel Bayesian capsized in a tornado.

It comes as - in a bizarre twist of fate - Lynch's former colleague and co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain died hours before after being hit by a car on Saturday.

The doomed boat sank off the coast of the Italian island Sicily at about 5am local time on Monday.

A body found is understood to be that of vessel chef Ricardo Thomas, according to the BBC .

Lynch's family, lawyers, and employees were on board when the boat when it sank, with witnesses describing the mast snapping in half.

READ MORE ON THE SEARCH

What we know about Mike Lynch - British billionaire missing after yacht sinks

'UK Bill Gates' & daughter feared dead after hosting party on doomed £14m yacht

They were celebrating the businessman's recent triumph over fraud charges that left him facing 25 years in a US prison , The Telegraph reported.

The tech tycoon made his riches by selling his software company Autonomy to US computing giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011 for $11bn (£8.6bn).

But an intense legal battle following the high-profile acquisition loomed over Lynch for more than a decade, leading to him being flown to the US in chains last year.

US Marshsals took Lynch into custody at Heathrow, bundling him on board a United Airlines flight after all other passengers had already boarded.

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He was extradited on fraud charges with a judge setting his bail at £79m before being acquitted by a jury in San Francisco earlier this year.

HOW LYNCH WON LEGAL BATTLE

Lynch had a few things in his favour when the case came to trial.

Firstly, was Sushovan Hussain, his second in command, who unwittingly acted as a sacrificial lamb.

Lynch's legal team were able to study his hearing and see in detail the Government's case before devising a better defence plan.

Prosecutors accused the pair of using "every accounting trick in the book" to boost Autonomy's earnings.

Lynch spent his time under house arrest avoiding watching anything about prisons, and staying laser focused on the case, he told The Times last month.

He also learned to play alto sax.

The entrepreneur was also helped by the nature of the case leading to a boring and turgid trial.

It included painstaking parades of emails, reports and spreadsheets filled with jargon, leaving jurors glassy-eyed.

One was even dismissed because he repeatedly fell asleep.

During the proceedings, Lynch argued that any questionable activity was entirely immaterial in the context of a thriving business bringing in hundreds of millions a year.

While his lawyers claimed the books were approved by outside accountants and that, by British standards, the deals in question were appropriately accounted for.

Lynch was used as the final witness and rather than going "right for the jugular", as his head lawyer Brian Heberlig said, the prosecutors simply "reviewed a chronology of documents, with no probing questions".

The jury agreed.

The dad-of-two, born in Ilford, East London, was found not guilty on 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy.

UK HIGH COURT

In 2022, a UK High Court judge had, however, already concluded in a civil trial Lynch and Hussain had committed fraud.

Mr Justice Hildyard said: "In my judgment, Dr Lynch shared with Mr Hussain knowledge of the impropriety of the way aspects of Autonomy’s actual business activities had been accounted for and disclosed (or rather disguised, concealed or misleadingly presented)."

HPE is seeking $4bn (£3.1bn) in damages from Lynch personally. The judge has indicated any penalty would be much smaller.

Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares' net worth was most recently estimated at $1.1bn (£852m) last year in the 2023 Sunday Times rich list.

Bacares is among those rescued after the yacht disaster.

She told doctors her husband and daughter were still missing, La Repubblica reported.

Bacares said at 4am the boat tilted and they were woken up, at first thinking nothing was wrong.

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But there was a scene of confusion as glass shattered and the Bayesian began to sink.

Bacares was later seen in hospital using a wheelchair.

Who is Mike Lynch?

By Georgie English

Entrepreneur Mike Lynch is still believed to be missing hours after a £14m luxury yacht capsized in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.

The tech tycoon, dubbed "Britain's Bill Gates", was one of the 22 people sailing onboard the £166,000 a week vessel, the Telegraph reported this afternoon.

Lynch, 59, sold Autonomy Corporation - a tech company for $11b to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

He has also been involved in Invoke Capital and cybersecurity company Darktrace.

He was awarded an OBE for his services to enterprise in 2006.

Born in Ilford, Lynch had a firefighter father from County Cork and a nurse mother from County Tipperary.

Away from work, Mike is married to wife Angela Bacares and the pair have two children together.

In 2023, the Sunday Times rich list set the couple's value at £852m.

Just weeks ago, Lynch was acquitted of criminal charges by a jury in San Francisco after a 12-year legal battle over the $11bn sale of his firm, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

He was extradited to the US on fraud charges back in 2023 with a judge setting his bail at £79m.

US Marshsals took Lynch into custody at Heathrow, putting him in chains and bundling him on board a United Airlines flight.

However, he had a few things in his favour.

The nature of the case led to a boring and turgid trial, including painstaking parades of emails, reports and spreadsheets filled with jargon, leaving jurors glassy-eyed.

Lynch argued that any questionable activity was entirely immaterial in the context of a thriving business bringing in hundreds of millions a year.

Lynch was used as the final witness and rather than going "right for the jugular", as his head lawyer Brian Heberlig said, the prosecutors simply "reviewed a chronology of documents, with no probing questions". The jury agreed.

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UK's 'Bill Gates' Mike Lynch's Body Recovered From Sunken Yacht By Rescuers: Report

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been reportedly found dead following a yacht wreck off the coast of Sicily, Italy. His 18-year-old daughter, Hannah , is still missing.

What Happened : Lynch’s body was recovered on Thursday from the wreckage of a yacht that sank earlier this week during a storm, Reuters reported quoting an unnamed source involved in the rescue mission. The bodies of four other individuals who disappeared when the yacht sank were found on Wednesday.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the only identified bodies so far are those of Morgan Stanley banker Jonathan Bloomer and U.S. lawyer Chris Morvillo.

See Also: NBA Legend Shaq Missed His Tesla Cybertruck So Much, Instead Of Shipping It From Vegas To Atlanta, He Rep

Why It Matters : Lynch, often referred to as the “U.K.’s Bill Gates,” was a significant figure in the tech industry, having founded the software company Autonomy .

Lynch’s yacht, the Bayesian, was caught in a storm and sank near the Sicilian capital, Palermo. This incident occurred on Monday, and rescue operations are ongoing. Lynch, who was acquitted of fraud charges earlier in June, made his name in the tech industry with the sale of his software company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. The deal, however, soured when Hewlett-Packard wrote down Autonomy's value by $8.8 billion.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Inside world’s first ever $1 billion hydrogen superyacht – and it’s linked to Bill Gates

The world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell superyacht has been unveiled in Amsterdam. It has taken Feadship 5 years to deliver Project 821, reportedly commissioned by Bill Gates.

Project 821 features 12 guest staterooms, two staff cabins, accommodation for 44 crew members, a hospital, library, elevator, cinema, pool with a moveable glass bottom, multiple hot tubs, steam room, a gym, separate owners deck with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two offices, and fourteen slide-out balconies.

What makes the Project 821 Feadship superyacht truly exceptional, however, is it is hydrogen-powered.

Jamie Edmiston, the CEO of yacht brokerage company Edmiston, represents the owner and is brokering the sale for a reported $1-billion. Edmiston says no expense was spared to build the groundbreaking vessel.

“The brief was to build the greenest and most environmentally advanced yacht ever built, without compromise,” says Edmiston. “It was a huge challenge, but one that the team has embraced and delivered on. The yacht we see today, designed by RWD and built by Feadship is without doubt the best yacht ever built. I am proud to have been involved since the inception of this idea.”

Neither Edmiston nor Feadship have revealed who commissioned the superyacht. eSysman Superyachts reported in April that it belongs to Bill Gates.

Jan-Bart Verkuyl, the CEO of Feadship Royal Van Lent shipyard, says pushing green superyacht technology as far as it could go was the mandate to develop of the vessel.

 “The aim has been to develop a new, clean technology not just for this project, but for the world,” Verkuyl says. Feadship has pledged to develop ‘net-zero’ yachts by 2030 and has an R&D team researching hydrogen and other fossil-fuel-free alternatives.

“The size of the proposed yacht – 100-metres-plus – made it a good candidate to explore pure green hydrogen as the fuel-cell source,” a Feadship statement reads.

“Even a yacht the size of  Project 821  cannot carry enough liquid hydrogen to power a crossing, but Feadship could impact a yacht’s carbon footprint where it is largest — generating electricity to serve the hotel load,” according to Feadship.

A yacht’s hotel load represents 70-78 per cent of a yacht’s annual total energy and heating and air conditioning make the largest demands, Feadship states. Air conditioning is a significant energy consumer on yachts, according to research from a maritime industry body .

“Supplying that electrical power via non-polluting hydrogen fuel cells has a swift and significant impact,” according to Feadship.

“Although there are hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars, and fuel cells have been used as the primary source of electrical power on human spaceflight for more than six decades, nothing existed in the maritime sector. There were no regulations for hydrogen storage and fuel-cell systems at class, flag-state or even the International Maritime Organisation level,” Feadship states.

Feadship, Edmiston and Lloyd’s Register developed new equipment, protocols and regulations for hydrogen to be used in the maritime industry. Feadship states that hydrogen fuel cells have water as their only exhaust, and are a combustion-free way to generate electricity.

“Project 821 features the most efficient waste heat recovery system yet developed, a system heating everything from the pool, Jacuzzi and steam room to the ambient air temperature and towel bars and floors in the guest bathrooms. Further savings in the hotel load will come from a Smart AC system linking sensors to an energy management system that automatically reduces air conditioning or heating in unoccupied guest spaces,” Feadship states.

When pure hydrogen is not available, electricity is generated by MTU generators combusting a biofuel said to reduce emissions by 90 per cent.

The work that has been done to deliver the no-expense-spared Project 821 superyacht is now being used for other vessels.

“The value of the research as well the development of class and flag safety regulations for an entirely new type of energy generation is an advancement we are proud to have made available to all,” says Verkuyl.

In 2025, two Norwegian ferries will operate using the system developed for Project 821.

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Bill Gates Yacht: Everything You Want To Know

In 2020 the yachting world was abuzz with news that Bill Gates had bought as stunning and advanced yacht known as Project Aqua. The massive, 370-foot concept yacht was revealed in 2019 at the Monaco Yacht Show and news soon followed that billionaire Bill Gates, once the richest man in the world and the founder of Microsoft, had commissioned the construction of his own hydrogen-powered Aqua. But that never actually happened and, in fact, as near as anyone can tell for real, Bill Gates doesn’t own a yacht at all. 

So where did the story come from? What’s the deal with the Aqua? And hasn’t Bill Gates been pictured on a yacht before? Let’s get some answers.

How Much Did the Aqua Yacht Cost at the Monaco Yacht Show?

According to the stories online, Bill Gates paid $600 million for the hydrogen powered yacht. But that’s not true at all. According to the yacht makers, the Dutch company Sinot, the price tag is $645 million but no one bought it after it was revealed at the Monaco Yacht Show, and that includes Bill Gates. It’s expensive but definitely not the most expensive in the world.

How Fast is the Aqua Yacht?

Aqua is a unique yacht in the yachting world which is why it garnered so much attention in the first place. It’s the first mega yacht that runs on a fully operational liquid hydrogen and fuel cell system that features two hydrogen engines that can produce 1,341 horsepower. The top speed is 17 knots and  the Aqua has a cruising speed of 12 knots. The total range is 3,750 nautical miles. The liquid hydrogen is stored in two 28-ton vacuum sealed tanks where it can be held at -253 degrees C. The only exhaust is water.

What Does the Interior of  the Aqua Yacht Look Like?

The Aqua has 7 suites meant to house up to 14 guests at any given time. Two of those suites are larger VIP cabins. The ceilings throughout are 9 feet and stretch as high as 12.5 feet elsewhere thanks to the luxury Sinot yacht architecture. The vessel has room for a crew of 31 as well. The beach deck lounge aboard the boat alone looks like a luxury hotel space.

The Aqua features a bow observation room which is surrounded by windows to give a panoramic view of the ocean which has been described as the “ultimate superyacht owners lounge.” In addition, there’s a movie theater on the upper deck. It also includes a wellness center with a hydro massage room. You can also do some yoga in a workout space. There’s a fully equipped gym, a beauty salon, and even a hairdresser.

Up on the main deck there’s a luxury swimming pool that even includes a waterfall. One of the yacht’s defining features is the spiral staircase that covers all five decks and is covered by a skylight. On the way up it also offers a view of the interior of the hydrogen fuel tanks so you can see just what 56 tons of ultra cold liquid hydrogen looks like as you move between decks. 

The tender garage has an array of toys such as jet skis while the main deck features a beach club with a dining area designed for all 14 guests and a lounge that converts into the cinema space.

What Yacht Has Bill Gates Actually Been On?

Bill Gates does seem to like yachts, just not enough to spend his money owning one, and that’s fair. Yachts cost millions to maintain every year. No one got rich spending millions to maintain a boat.

That said, Bill Gates has not only vacationed on yachts – he spent his 66th birthday on one – he also got married on a yacht.

In 2021, Gates made the news when he celebrated his 66th on board a luxury yacht called the Lana alongside Jeff Bezos. He spent $2 million to charter the yacht for a week and flew 50 guests out to celebrate with him. 

The Lana is a 351 foot yacht with room for 12 guests and a cruising speed of 12 knots with a max speed of 18 knots. The master suite is 1,184 square feet. The room features his and hers walk-in dressing rooms and a private terrace.

Elsewhere on board you’ll find a piano in the lounge area as well as a full gym for working out. There’s both a sauna and a well-appointed spa as well. On deck you can head to the beach club or take a dip in the pool. 

There are three tenders in the garage alongside a bunch of toys including various jetskis, a seabob, wakeboards, WindSurfers, fishing equipment, scuba diving equipment and more. 

Back in 2014, Gates rented an even more expensive yacht, the $5 million per week Serene, to go on a vacation with his family. The Serene, once owned by  Russian vodka magnate Yuri Shelfer before being purchased by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, clocked in at a massive 450 feet making it one of the world’s biggest and even had its own on board submarine

The Serene features 7 decks, a saltwater pool, a climbing wall, a surprisingly large library, health spa, outdoor cinema and a nightclub. This is all spread across 48,000 square feet.

It’s also been confirmed that Gates met his wife Melinda on a yacht owned by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, all the way back in 1994. 

Why Do People Think Bill Gates Owns the Aqua?

It’s easy to see why people may have thought Gates owned the Aqua when you consider a handful of factors. First, as mentioned, we have lots of evidence that Bill Gates really does enjoy luxury yachts. The extremely high price tag was something that only a few people in the world are going to be able to afford and Gates, who doesn’t own a yacht, seems like a likely candidate for those reasons. 

In addition, Gates has spent several years now as a climate activist and has supported a number of green technologies. A yacht that runs on hydrogen seems like something he would support as well. So, with no real evidence, the circumstantial evidence was enough to easily convince people. Once it’s presented as fact on the internet, and it was in many articles and videos, few people had reason to question it. 

The Bottom Line

The mega yacht known as the Aqua has a price tag of $645 million and it runs on clan burning hydrogen fuel. The only byproduct of its operation is water, making it a very environmentally friendly yacht. It made waves, so to speak, when it debuted at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2019. Rumors soon began to spread that billionaire and known climate activist Bill Gates had ordered one for $600 million. However, despite many videos and articles that refer to him as the owner, the truth is no one bought the Aqua at the yacht show and, as of 2023, Bill Gates does not own a yacht at all. He is know to charter extremely luxurious yachts for vacations and parties, such as the Lana and the Serene, but he does not own any just now.

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Ending his sea-faring dreams for good, Bill Gates has listed ‘Wayfinder,’ the support vessel to his hydrogen-powered superyacht, for $59 million. The vessel has a helipad that doubles as a pickleball court, a medical room, a fold-out gym, and a garage filled with water toys.

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Breaking news, bayesian superyacht’s captain faces manslaughter investigation after deadly wreck, italian papers say.

Italian prosecutors will investigate the captain of the superyacht belonging to British tech magnate Mike Lynch that sank off Sicily last week during an intense storm, killing Lynch and six other people , Italian media reports said on Monday.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the decision.

Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow.

James Cutfield, a 51-year old New Zealand national, is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck, the dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera said.

Magistrates spoke to Cutfield on Sunday for the second time in a week, la Repubblica reported, questioning him for more than two hours.

It said prosecutors may also investigate a crew member who was on duty when the storm hit and survived the incident.

The British-flagged Bayesian, a 184-foot superyacht, was carrying 22 people when it capsized and sank on Monday within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm while anchored off northern Sicily.

Fifteen people survived, including Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the Bayesian.

What to know after a tornado sank the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily:

• A superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing seven passengers.
• British tech tycoon Mike Lynch was identified as one of the bodies pulled from the wreckage. His teenage daughter, Hannah, was the final one to be recovered.
• Lynch — known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — had invited guests from Clifford Chance, a legal firm that represented him, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage,  according to the Telegraph . 
• Security camera footage shot from 650 feet from where the  Bayesian sank Monday  shows it disappearing.
• A rare and unexpected “black swan” weather event may have led to the  Bayesian’s speedy demise , maritime experts say.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter , Hannah, was among those who died.

While the yacht had been hit by a sudden meteorological event, it was plausible that crimes of multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence had been committed, the head of the public prosecutor’s office of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, said on Saturday.

Maritime law gives a captain full responsibility for the ship, crew, and all on board.

Cutfield and his eight surviving crew members have made no public comment yet on the disaster.

“The Bayesian was built to go to sea in any weather”, Franco Romani, a nautical architect that was part of the team that designed it told daily La Stampa in an interview published on Monday.

He said it was likely the yacht had taken on water from a side hatch that was left open.

Romani said the crew underestimated the bad weather and that they should have made sure that all openings had been shut and the anchor removed before the storm hit the boat.

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Divers find bodies in search for missing tourists after yacht belonging to 'British Bill Gates' capsized

British tech mogul mike lynch's yacht sank off the coast of italy on monday.

Callum Jones

Divers have found two bodies inside of the Bayesian yacht which sank off the coast of Sicily earlier this week.

The Bayesian was carrying 22 people - 12 passengers and 10 crew - at the time of its capsizing due to a reported waterspout tornado.

15 of those were rescued, while others remain missing, which include technology tycoon Mike Lynch; his 18-year-old daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.

According to the BBC, two bodies have been confirmed to have been found, the head of Sicily's civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, has confirmed.

However, there has been no official identification from Italian authorities.

A body recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday was identified as Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who'd been employed as a chef on the yacht.

Gareth Williams, a friend of the chef, told the BBC: “I can talk for everyone that knew him when I say he was a well-loved, kind human being with a calm spirit.”

Meanwhile, another friend, Eli Fuller, told the broadcaster Thomas was 'friends with everybody', 'always positive' and 'sought-after' in his profession area.

Vincenzo Zagarola, of the Italian Coastguard, previously said the six missing tourists were feared dead.

He told the PA news agency: “We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea.

“Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly.

“We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat.”

Lynch, one of those onboard, has been dubbed by many over the years as the 'British Bill Gates' .

The 59-year-old was cleared by a US jury of all charges in a high-profile fraud case in relation to the sale of his software company.

Lynch was cleared of 15 counts of fraud which he faced after Silicon Valley giant Hewlett-Packard purchased his company Autonomy for $11.1 billion in 2011.

The charges brought against him were those of fraud and conspiracy, as the Californian company claimed he had schemed to inflate the company’s value before it was sold.

Topics:  News , World News , Bayesian yacht

• Sixth body found in yacht disaster believed to be 'British Bill Gates'' daughter
• ‘British Bill Gates’ goes missing on sunken yacht just days after co-defendant in US fraud trial is ‘fatally struck’ by car
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• Tourists crushed in escalator after sudden malfunction sent passengers falling backwards

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The $600 Million Question: Why Is Bill Gates Selling His Hydrogen-Powered Megayacht?

Project 821, a trendsetter in terms of sustainability and luxury

Upkeep is too expensive

More focus on sustainability

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile

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World's first hydrogen-powered superyacht — 'commissioned by Bill Gates' — hits the water and goes on sale for €600m

Dutch shipbuilder Feadship says technology developed for 'Project 821' is being used for Norway’s landmark H2 ferries

• Leigh Collins

Bill Gates to sell £600m green megayacht – before it’s even set sail

B ill Gates had previously been a rarity among his fellow billionaires by opting against owning a megayacht, instead preferring to rent during summer trips around the Mediterranean.

That all changed in 2020 when the retired 68-year-old commissioned the world’s first hydrogen-powered vessel of its kind, splashing out more than £500m on what became known as Project 821. 

Gates’s interest in a green yacht was first reported by The Telegraph, when rumours swept the highly secretive industry.

Four years and a pandemic later, the vessel is nearly complete. But Gates, who co-founded Microsoft and is the world’s fourth richest man, has put it up for sale via a specialist before it has even been delivered.

Brokers at Edmiston have been tasked with finding a buyer for the yacht, which is still housed at the Feadship yard in the Netherlands.

The asking price is understood to be a cool €675m euros (£579m), with reasons for the sale unclear. 

In decades gone by, finding a buyer for a megayacht of this size may have been easy, as the super-rich have long desired their very own palace at sea . 

However, the sale of Gates’ vessel comes at a rocky time for the yacht industry, which has been in decline ever since Vladimir Putin’s war started in Ukraine two years ago. 

According to analysts at Berenberg, a recent drop-off in sales is “linked to the perception that yachting is significantly exposed to Russian clientele”, such as former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. 

Meanwhile, a reduction in orders could also indicate that even the wealthiest 0.1pc are facing the consequences of economic turmoil. 

Project 821, as it is still known, is 119m long and 19m wide – putting it among the world’s largest pleasure cruisers, such as the 117-metre Koru owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos .

However, unlike other superyachts, Gates’ vessel is unique in that it contains a hydrogen power system, including a heavily insulated cryogenic tank containing 92 cubic metres of liquefied hydrogen at minus 253°C. 

This is used to generate electricity in a bank of 16 compact fuel cells. The only exhaust from this process is water vapour, signalling Gates’ long-standing interest in alternative fuels. 

The software tycoon, who has pledged to give most of his estimated $129bn fortune to good causes via the Gates Foundation, has been a leading advocate of decarbonising the energy system in recent years. 

His green ambitions have led to him backing a series of clean energy start-ups through his multibillion-dollar fund Breakthrough, although Project 821 appeared more of a personal project for Gates, who was divorced from his wife Melinda in 2022.

According to Feadship, the space required for the hydrogen system added four metres to the yacht’s length.

Project 821 is not entirely hydrogen-powered, however, and is unable to make a long sea voyage running on green fuel alone .

Instead, hydrogen power can be used to help the yacht make shorter journeys, for instance leaving and entering harbour, travelling at speeds of up to 10 knots, propelled by two electric thruster units. 

Feadship says that the vessel’s “hotel load” – the electricity for air conditioning, heating, cooking, lighting etc – can be run for a week on hydrogen only. 

For longer journeys, or in the event that supplies of liquid hydrogen are not available, the yacht also has diesel generators with enough power to achieve top speeds of 17 knots. 

These can be run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), described by Feadship as second-generation biofuel – that is, biofuel which is not made from food crops.

Clean energy aside, there is no doubt about the levels of luxury on board the superyacht . 

For whoever can stump the cash, the new owner will be given access to an entire deck of their own, 37m above the waterline. 

This is arranged as an apartment with two bedrooms, twin bathrooms and dressing rooms, a gym, a pantry, two offices each with a fireplace, and a living room. 

Feadship doesn’t specify what type of fuel is burned in the yacht’s fireplaces, but it does go on to say: “The owner accommodation extends beyond a single deck. 

“A unique and completely private vertical corridor extends to the lower deck. This includes both a spacious staircase lined with bookshelves and display nooks and an owners’ elevator. 

“At each deck level, there are inviting private lifestyle destinations to savour such as a coffee corner and games niche on the bridge deck, a library on the main deck, and a private dining room with a sea terrace and adjacent ensuite stateroom on the lower deck. 

“It creates, in essence, a secluded four-level townhouse-by-the-sea within the much larger yacht.”

The yacht also has twelve staterooms for guests, two cabins for members of the owner’s personal staff, accommodation for 44 crew and “a dedicated hospital”.

Guests aboard will no doubt be impressed by the “towering atrium staircase that wraps around a circular elevator” and the 8.2m pool with “contraflow” and two hot tubs, one on the upper sun deck and one in the pool area.

Other features include a spa, swim platform, beach club, library, cinema and a “cosy” underwater “Nemo lounge”.

The yacht has no fewer than 14 retractable balconies.

“The balconies are unnoticeable when closed but slide out at the touch of a button, carrying with them their side railings or walls,” according to Feadship. “When fully deployed, their floors rise to become perfectly level with the interior room.”

The yacht’s partial hydrogen power system is a new departure for the superyacht industry, but hydrogen has already been deployed at scale in the automotive sector. 

More than 20,000 Toyota Mirai fuel cell cars have been sold around the world, which store their hydrogen as a high-pressure gas rather than a cryogenic liquid.

Road vehicles with liquefied hydrogen tanks have also been built. 

These, like most liquefied gas storage systems , gradually lose their fuel to “boil off” when left parked, an issue which will also affect Project 821. 

The process of liquefying the gas is also energy-intensive, meaning hydrogen is not always a low-carbon fuel.

The normal method of manufacturing hydrogen is by making it from natural gas, a process which produces carbon dioxide.

Almost all hydrogen produced today is made using this method, and as such is classed as “grey” hydrogen.

The aspiration is that vessels like Project 821 would be powered by “green” hydrogen, made by using zero-carbon electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. 

Alternatively, if the carbon dioxide is captured and stored during the production of hydrogen from gas, it becomes “blue” hydrogen , almost as eco-friendly, though this is not yet done on a wide scale.

Feadship has plans to develop technology which could produce hydrogen from methanol. 

Tanks for methanol would be much simpler and would store more energy than liquefied hydrogen alternatives.

These bold proposals are exactly what Gates is pushing for in his bid to save the world from a climate disaster, with or without his £579m megayacht.

As he said in an article for The New York Times earlier this year: “Very wealthy individuals should be making changes to their lifestyles to bring their emissions close to zero. 

“If you fly in a private jet, as I do, you can afford the extra cost of sustainable aviation fuel made from low-carbon crops and water.

“Wealthy investors have the capital to take risks, and indeed, should be taking more of them.”

The Gates Foundation was contacted for comment. 

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