Divers recently recovered three more bodies. The two men and one woman have been taken to a morgue to be identified. The sex of the other two bodies is not yet known. Only one body is still missing.
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer were among the six missing passengers.
The Daily Telegraph said the body of Lynch, 59, had been found.
The other missing passengers are Bloomer’s wife Anne Elizabeth Judith Bloomer, Lynch’s lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Nada Morvillo.
The Bayesian, with 22 people on board, sank after a tornado hit the area.
Coast guards rescued 15 passengers, but seven others were reported missing, including one person whose body was recovered later on Monday morning after firefighter divers reached the boat.
The victim was later identified as Ricardo Thomas, who worked on board as a chef.
The boat was located at a depth of around 50 metres, half a mile from the coast.
Meanwhile, Bayesian captain James Catfield, 51, was questioned by Termini Imerese prosecutors for two hours, ANSA learned on Wednesday.
State attorneys in Termini Imerese have opened an investigation into the accident.
They questioned the expert skipper on Tuesday night, according to sources close to the investigation.
Investigators are trying to learn more about the technical details that could prove useful to understand what caused the sailboat to sink in just a few minutes.
Magistrates on Wednesday also questioned the other shipwreck survivors at the Domina-Zagarella resort where they are staying.
According to an anonymous expert engineer at Italian Sea Group - the company that owns Perini Navi, the shipyard in Viareggio that in 2008 launched the Bayesian - several mistakes may have been committed ahead of the accident.
Potential mistakes include the fact that the boat’s engines were off and that passengers were allowed to remain in their cabins during the storm.
“Basic security protocols provide for always having someone on guard duty during a storm, including when a boat is at anchor,” the engineer said.
“Even if the tornado was about to hit, there was all the time necessary to make it to safety, just 15 minutes would have been necessary to activate all security measures.”
Operations continued throughout the day to search for the missing passengers.
Expert teams of divers as well as ships and helicopters coordinated by Palermo coast guards were aided by coast guard divers from Naples and Messina.
Search operations also include divers who took part in the mission following the deadly shipwreck of the Concordia, the cruise ship that sank in 2012, killing 33 people.
The divers are using a ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) during their search missions.
The ROV is able to operate at a depth of up to 300 for up to seven hours.
Due to the depth at which the wreckage sits, divers can only spend up to 12 minutes to search the boat before they need to resurface.
A video of the accident shows the boat apparently sinking in just 60 seconds.
Former British minister Lord Deben said Wednesday that Lynch had been “set to start again” after getting through his 12-year legal ordeal.
He was said to be celebrating with friends and family on the yacht.
ANSA
