A DIVER working on tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s sunken £14million superyacht has died – just days after recovery operations began.
Robcornelis Maria Huijben Uiben, 39, was pronounced dead on Friday afternoon in Sicily and is believed to have been working for Dutch firm SMIT Salvage.
A diver died during an underwater operation to recover the Bayesien, the sailing ship that sank off the coast of Porticello, Sicily
SplashHe died whilst cutting the boom of the yacht, according to local media[/caption]
The 184ft £14million superyacht in Sicily before it sank
Billionaire entrepreneur Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among seven people who died when the 56-metre (184ft) Bayesian sank off the coast of the Italian island on August 19.
The diver, who is thought to be a Dutch national, reportedly died when working alongside other recovery workers to cut the boom of the yacht.
After an unsuccessful attempt using wrenches to cut the section, the divers are believed to have used a blow torch.
Local media speculated that the man was hit by part of the cut boom as it came off whilst he was underwater.
But police said they have launched a probe to understand what exactly caused the man’s death.
According to other local media reports, an underwater explosion was heard by at least one person before the man was found dead.
Around 70 specialist personnel had been mobilised to the fishing village Porticello to work on the gruelling recovery operation, which began on May 4.
Operations paused when the alarm was raised and the man’s body was recovered.
On the dock, coastguards and the main prosecutor working on the case, Raffaele Cammarano, were present.
The massive vessel is set to be lifted to an upright position and brought to the surface in about two weeks.
SMIT are the operators of the heavy lifting crane that has been brought in along with another support ship to lift the huge yacht.
This will hopefully shed light on how the supposedly unsinkable superyacht fell to the bottom of the sea.
The horror shipwreck also took the lives of Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and wife Judy, attorney Chris Morvillo and wife Neda, and the ship’s cook Recaldo Thomas.
The £14million vessel was caught up in a storm off the coast of northern Sicily on August 19, capsizing and sinking to the sea floor in mere minutes
An autopsy revealed that four of the victims in the superyacht tragedy survived the initial sinking but later died in an air bubble inside the wreck.
Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda – all survived the initial sinking.
Mike Lynch’s cause of death was confirmed as drowning.
EPAMike Lynch and his daughter were among the seven people who died in the deadly sinking[/caption]
APThe Italian Coast Guard’s Luigi Dattilo CP940 patrol vessel (left) assists Hebo Lift 2 (right) at the site[/caption]
Divers previously recovered five of the six missing passengers – including Lynch – in one cabin on the left side of the yacht which settled on its right side on the sea floor.
The luxury vessel was caught up in a horror storm which caused it to sink in the early hours of the morning.
Of the 22 onboard, 15 survived with 11 including Mike Lynch’s wife rescued on an inflatable life raft.
The captain of the doomed Bayesian, James Cutfield, 51, is being investigated for manslaughter.
Kiwi Cutfield, along with two other members of his crew, are being investigated by Italian authorities for culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter.
The salvage operation begun on May 4 and includes floating cranes, remote-controlled robots, and specialist divers amongst other marine experts.
The Hebo Lift 10 crane is thought to be one of the most powerful in Europe and arrived in Sicily from Rotterdam.
The Italian Coast Guard believe the operation could take between 20 and 25 days.
The boat lies 160ft below the surface on the ocean floor.
The yacht’s 246ft aluminium mast – the second tallest in the world – will be cut to allow the hull to be brought to the surface more easily, said coast guard Captain Nicola Silvestri.
About ten steel cables will then be threaded underneath the yacht to create a harness to raise it from the seabed.
From there the yacht will be hoisted to the surface in a complex procedure which will probably last two days.
After the wreck is brought ashore, judicial authorities investigating the sinking will examine it.
EPASpecial diving units have been making routine inspections of the Bayesian since it sank[/caption]
Mike Lynch, 59, with his wife Angela Bacares, 57
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online
Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.