Divers killed during the recovery of Bayesian

Work to restore the late British Tech -Tycoon Mike Lynch's sunken superyacht off the coast of North Sicilia was carried out after the death of a diver involved in the operations, according to the company that led the efforts on Saturday.

The 56 meter long (184 feet) Bayesian was moored by the small portikello near Palermo in August last year, when he was probably hit by a downburst, a very strong wind that killed seven people, including Lynch and his daughter Hannah.

“This break in the activity is necessary so that the investigation is completed and that all salvation and associated teams can mourn the tragic loss of a highly respected rescue diver during yesterday's underwater work,” said TMC Marine in a statement.

The accident occurred on Friday, when the diver was under water in Porticello, the police said and added that the exact cause of death was still unknown.

Italian news agencies reported that the diver was a 39-year-old Dutch citizen who worked for the Dutch specialist of the Salvage company Hebo Maritiemservice.

The AGI news agency said that the man was hit by a piece of metal because the divers cut the interpreter – the horizontal pole attached to the vertical mast of the ship – from the wreck of Bayes.

The attempt to raise the yacht from the sea floor, as required by Italian prosecutors, should take place in the course of this month and should help throw light on how a supposedly imperishable ship in the sea disappeared.

It was unclear how long the temporary suspension announced on Saturday would take.

“The healing team offers the authorities the full cooperation in their investigation (in the death of the diver),” said Marcus Cave, head of the naval architecture and director of TMC Marine.

“Although there is a considerable interest in this project, we ask the media to make the entire project team considerate and give enough time so that the investigation will carry out their course and reflect and mourn the territory in this terribly sad time,” he added.

(Reuters – Reporting of Wladimir Pantaleone. Additional reporting by Alvise Armellini. Writing by Claudia Cristoferi. Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)