Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo

Work to raise the Bayesian is put on hold as investigators seek to establish the cause of the 39-year-old Dutchman’s death

Recovery operations to raise the late tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht Bayesian from the seabed off Sicily have been suspended after a diver died during underwater work.

Rob Cornelis Maria Huijben, a 39-year-old Dutch diver, died on Friday while doing preparation work to cut the ship’s mainmast. He was employed by the maritime company Hebo, whose barge arrived last week in Porticello, a fishing port near Palermo. The luxury vessel was anchored just off Porticello when it was struck shortly before dawn by a violent storm on 19 August 2024. It sank within seconds, killing seven people, including Lynch and his daughter Hannah.

Dutchman, 39, had been working underwater in Sicily during operations to raise British tech tycoon’s vessel

A diver who was working on preliminary operations to raise the late tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s sunken superyacht, Bayesian, has died during underwater work in Sicily.

The 39-year-old Dutch diver died on Friday while working underwater in preparation to cut the ship’s mainmast.

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UK tech entrepreneur and his daughter were among seven killed when the Bayesian sank in a violent storm

A 55-metre (180ft) barge carrying a heavy-lift crane has begun work to raise the British-flagged superyacht Bayesian from the seabed off Sicily, where it sank last summer killing seven people including the UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch.

The barge, named Hebo Lift 2, with its 700-sq-metre deck, specialist diving apparatus and a remotely operated underwater vehicle, arrived last week in Porticello, a fishing port near Palermo, where marine salvage experts have started operations to raise the Bayesian.