A diver has died while working to recover the wreck of the superyacht Bayesian, whose sinking claimed seven lives last year.
The man, who has not been named, is believed to have been working for Dutch firm SMIT Salvage.
The company is responsible for operating a heavy lifting crane and support ship that were brought in to lift the yacht from the seabed near Sicily.
Details of the incident have not been released, but the investigation is reportedly looking into the possibility that the diver’s oxygen equipment was faulty.
Another working theory is that he may have had some kind of seizure.
Billionaire tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who owned the yacht, and his daughter Hannah, 18, were among seven people who died when the 56-metre vessel sank off the coast of the Italian island in August.
The group set sail for a trip in the Mediterranean to celebrate Mr Lynch’s acquittal following a lengthy fraud trial in the US.
The case revolved around the sale of Autonomy Corporation, a software firm he founded, to computer giant Hewlett-Packard.
He had been successfully sued by Hewlett-Packard over the issue a few years earlier.
The Bayesian had dropped anchor around half a mile off the Sicilian coast to celebrate on the evening of August 19.
At midnight the Italian Coast Guard issued a warning that a serious storm was expected to hit, in which winds could reach speeds of 46mph.
Experienced local fisherman who had planned to head out to sea that Sunday cancelled their plans, though the superyacht remained anchored through the storm.
At 3am a deckhand woke the ship’s captain as heavy winds and huge waves began to batter the yacht.
A little less than an hour later began to be dragged out of its anchorage, and sank around 15 minutes later.
Survivor Charlotte Golunksi, who was thrown into the sea holding her one-year-old daughter, previously said of the moment: ‘It was all black around me. And the only things I could hear were the screams of others.’
An inquest is underway in the UK into the deaths of the four British nationals among the victim, who also include Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71.
The other vicitms were US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel.
Fifteen people, including Mr Lynch’s wife, were rescued.
Around 70 specialists have been drafted from across Europe to work on the ship’s recovery, which began earlier this week.
British marine consultancy TMC Marine, which is overseeing the operation to raise the vessel, has been approached for comment.
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