A tragic incident occurred off the coast of Sicily early Monday morning when a British-flagged sailing yacht sank during a severe storm.
The luxury yacht had 22 people on board, with 10 crew members and 12 passengers, some of whom were American and Canadian.
The Italian fire and rescue service reported that one man has died, and six others are missing.
Among the missing are New York City lawyer, Christopher Morvillo with his wife, Mike Lynch and his 18-year old daughter Hannah and Jonathan Bloomer, chairman at Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy.
However, specialist divers are still continuing their search for missing people.
The yacht, named Bayesian, was built by Perini in 2008 and last refitted in 2020.
It features a 75-meter (246-foot) mast, claimed to be the tallest aluminum mast in the world.
What causes a yacht to sink?
It is believed that a waterspout—a type of tornado over water, often short-lived and difficult to detect on radar, hit the yacht, leading to its capsizing.
Some reports also suggest that the yacht's mast snapped during the storm and that water may have entered through open hatches and doors due to the warm weather.
Witnesses reported seeing a waterspout form during the storm just before the yacht sank.
Meanwhile, the International Centre for Waterspout Research confirmed that there were 18 waterspouts off the coast of Italy on August 19 alone, as per BBC.
These events are most common in late summer and autumn when sea temperatures are at their peak.
With rising sea temperatures due to climate change, there are concerns that waterspouts could become more frequent.
Recently, the Mediterranean recorded its highest sea surface temperatures, which likely fueled the storm.
