‘We didn’t see it coming’: the tumultuous Sicilian night that took down the Bayesian

One of the passengers said the superyacht was a ‘wonderful, large boat’ that had visited the Aeolian Islands, Milazzo and Cefalù before the journey was disrupted by bad weather. Photograph: Perini Navi Press Office/EPA

The 12 holidaying passengers had come from the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland, occupying six luxurious suites of Bayesian, a 56-metre-long superyacht boasting the tallest aluminium mast in the world. Among the 10 crew members were people from Sri Lanka.

The award-winning, British-flagged vessel, which was built in 2008 by the Italian shipbuilder Perini and managed by Camper & Nicholsons, left the calm blue waters of the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August, sailing for a few days around the Aeolian Islands and off the historic coastal village of Cefalù.