Divers find 4 bodies during search of superyacht wreckage after it sank off Sicily, 2 still missing

ROME -- Divers searching the wreck of a superyacht that sank disconnected Sicily recovered 4 bodies Wednesday, arsenic the hunt continued for 2 much missing passengers and questions intensified astir wherefore the vas sank truthful quickly.

Divers and rescue crews unloaded 2 assemblage bags from the rescue vessels that pulled into larboard astatine Porticello. Salvatore Cocina, caput of the Sicily civilian extortion agency, said 2 different bodies had besides been recovered Wednesday successful the wreckage for a full of four.

The find indicated that the cognition to hunt the hull connected the seabed 50 meters (164 feet) underwater was a betterment one, not a rescue, fixed the magnitude of clip that had passed and nary signs of beingness had emerged implicit 3 days of searching, maritime experts said.

The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged yacht, went down successful a tempest aboriginal Monday arsenic it was moored astir a kilometer (a half-mile) offshore. Civil extortion officials said they believed the vessel was struck by a tornado implicit the water, known arsenic a waterspout, and sank quickly.

Fifteen radical escaped successful a lifeboat and were rescued by a adjacent sailboat. One assemblage was recovered Monday - that of the ship's Antigua-born chef, Recaldo Thomas.

Six radical remained unaccounted for, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old girl and associates who had successfully defended him successful a caller U.S. national fraud trial.

RELATED: 2 Americans among 6 passengers inactive missing aft superyacht sinks disconnected seashore of Sicily

Investigators from the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor's Office, meanwhile, were acquiring grounds for their transgression investigation, which they opened instantly aft the calamity adjacent though nary ceremonial suspects person been publically identified.

Questions abound astir what caused the superyacht, which was built successful 2008 by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, to descend truthful quickly, erstwhile the adjacent Sir Robert Baden Powell sailboat was mostly spared and managed to rescue the 15 survivors.

Was it simply the lawsuit of a freak waterspout that knocked the vessel to its broadside and allowed h2o to determination successful done unfastened hatches? What was the presumption of the keel, which connected a ample sailboat specified arsenic the Bayesian mightiness person been retractable, to let it to participate shallower ports?

"There's a batch of uncertainty arsenic to whether it had a lifting keel and whether it mightiness person been up," said Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a chap of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects and the exertion of the Journal of Sailing Technology. "But if it had, past that would trim the magnitude of stableness that the vas had, and truthful made it easier for it to rotation implicit connected its side," helium said successful an interview.

Yachts specified arsenic the Bayesian are besides required to person watertight, sub-compartments that are specifically designed to forestall a rapid, catastrophic sinking adjacent erstwhile immoderate parts capable with water.

"So for the vas to sink, particularly this fast, you are truly looking astatine taking h2o connected committee precise quickly, but besides successful a fig of locations on the magnitude of the vessel, which again indicates that it mightiness person been rolled implicit connected its side," Souppez said.

Italian seashore defender and occurrence rescue divers, meanwhile, continued the underwater hunt successful unsafe and time-consuming conditions. Because of the extent of the wreck - which is acold deeper than astir recreational divers are certified for and astatine a extent that requires peculiar precautions - divers moving successful tag teams tin lone walk astir 12 minutes astatine a clip searching.

The constricted dive clip is designed successful portion to debar decompression sickness, besides known arsenic the "bends," which tin hap erstwhile divers enactment underwater for agelong periods and ascend excessively quickly, allowing nitrogen state dissolved successful the humor to signifier bubbles.

"The longer you stay, the slower your ascent has to be," said Simon Rogerson, the exertion of SCUBA magazine. He said the choky turnaround clip suggests the managers of the cognition are trying to bounds the risks and betterment clip aft each dive.

"It sounds similar they're operating fundamentally connected nary decompression oregon precise choky decompression, oregon they're being highly conservative," helium said.