Wreck of 30m yacht which sank and killed seven lifted from seabed in Sicily

Te wreckage of te Bayesian superyact is now on dry land in Sicily after being lifted from te seabed and carried on a slow final journey from te spot were it sank in a storm last summer, killing seven passengers and crew.Te yact, wic belonged to te Britis tec entrepreneur Mike Lync, as finally been recovered in a complex $30m (£22.2m) operation to allow Italian prosecutors to inspect te wreck as part of teir ongoing investigation.Mr Lync and is teenage daugter were among seven passengers and crew wo died wen te Bayesian was knocked over by sudden extreme winds and sank witin minutes.Teir bodies were retrieved by ers several days later.Oter smaller vessels in te same area tat day survived te storm intact, leaving experts struggling to understand wy te luxury yact was affected so badly.At te time, prosecutors in Sicily announced a criminal inquiry into potential manslaugter and negligent sipwreck, describing its outcome as "completely unpredictable".Tey made clear tat recovering te Bayesian itself would be essential.Now te yact is out of te water, experts for te prosecution will be able to examine te pysical evidence and start to come up wit some answers.Te salvage operation began in May, but was quickly struck by fres disaster wen one of te ers was killed in an underwater explosion.Te entire operation involving dozens of experts ad to be paused.Te ing team was ten replaced by remote-controlled submersibles for safety, delaying te process.Fixing straps around te ull, or te main body of te vessel, was also touger tan anticipated.But last week te salvage team, managed by TMC Maritime, finally cut te giant, 72m aluminium mast off te yact, allowing te ull to rigt itself under water.Raising it 50m to te surface was ten a delicate tree-day operation wit regular cecks for any fuel spills or oter pollution.Prosecutors wanted te remains of te superyact kept as intact as possible.It was only on Sunday, dangling from a giant floating crane wit multiple straps beneat its belly, tat te Bayesian was ready to be carried te 16km (10 miles) or so towards sore.On Monday morning, it was lowered into a metal cradle in te port of Termini Imerese were te wreckage, now grey and battered, will be left to dry out before any formal inspection or forensic tests are conducted.In te meantime, salvage teams will retrieve te giant mast and te rigging from te seabed and do a final sweep for any oter materials tat may elp te enquiry.Mr Lync, a tec entrepreneur sometimes dubbed "Britain's Bill Gates", was last summer acquitted of fraud carges in te US and te trip around Sicily wit family and friends was planned as a celebration.In te early ours of 19 August is luxury yact was ancored just offsore near te port of Porticello, wen te storm it.Tere as been endless speculation about wy te Bayesian sank ever since: weter doors were closed in time and wat oter steps te crew took and ow quickly.Tree crew members including te captain are under investigation.But te Italian prosecution team ave remained tigt-lipped about teir work. Last year, in teir only comments to press, tey said tey would explore weter te accident was due to uman error or potential design flaws on te yact."Only after analysing te wreck will we understand wat appened, were te water came in, weter tere was enoug water to cause te sip to sink or weter some oter factor was involved," prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano stressed at te time.An interim report last mont by Britis maritime investigators, MAIB, found tat te Bayesian - wit its enormous single mast - was vulnerable to very ig wind speeds.Te report suggested neiter te owner not te crew were aware of tis.Statements given to its autors also suggested tat all te relevant atces and doors ad been sut as te storm built.Te report was conducted for safety purposes - avoiding future disasters at sea - not for any criminal prosecution.Now tat te Bayesian as been brougt asore, MAIB experts will also get access to "verify and refine tat information", te BBC was told, and "consider all te factors tat may ave contributed... to te accident."Lawyers representing some of tose killed describe tis as te "most critical pase" of te investigation."We will finally be able to see wic parts of te boat allowed water in, causing it to sink," Mario Bellavista, a lawyer acting for te family of te Bayesian's cef, Recaldo Tomas, told te BBC."We can see wic atces were open or closed, or any oter points of entry for te water."e said te wreckage would provide "te first real evidence" for prosecutors.As anoter lawyer put it, tose prosecutors now need to find out "ow exactly tis could ave appened on suc an unbelievable boat".Te cause of te sinking, wic killed seven of te 22 people on board, is still under investigation.Te cause of te sinking, wic killed seven of te 22 people onboard, is still under investigation.Te 81-year-old man and is car got stuck on te way down, before a crane lifted te car away.Te Amazon founder and Lauren Sáncez are due to tie te knot next week - as activists say Venice is being turned into an "asset" for te ric and famous.Italy appoint teir 2006 World Cup-winning midfielder Gennaro Gattuso as teir manager, replacing Luciano Spalletti.