Tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s sunken superyacht will likely be raised from the seabed in spring, it is understood.
Bayesian, which sank off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, in August last year, is set to be retrieved before the summer season starts, the PA news agency has learned.
Prosecutors have said raising and examining the yacht for evidence would provide key elements to the investigation into possible manslaughter and negligent shipwreck launched days after the sinking.
Billionaire entrepreneur Dr Lynch, 59, his daughter Hannah Lynch, 18, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer were among seven people who died in the sinking.
The vessel is resting at a depth of 50 metres (164ft).
Plans to raise the boat have taken longer than expected and Italian authorities, including the coastguard and the prosecutor’s office, will review them before giving the green light.
Environmental authorities in Italy must also agree to the plan, it is understood.
The Italian coastguard has been monitoring the sea to make sure there are no fuel leaks from the yacht’s tank, a spokesman said.
In August, Maritime director of western Sicily Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda told a press conference that Bayesian’s owner, now Dr Lynch’s widow Angela Bacares, will bear the full cost of retrieval, although he could not estimate the figure or how long it would take.
Prosecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in connection with the sinking.
The 56-metre (184ft) British-flagged luxury yacht sank during what appears to have been a sudden downburst, or localised powerful wind from a thunderstorm that spreads rapidly after hitting the surface.
US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel, also died.
Fifteen people, including Dr Lynch’s wife Ms Bacares, were rescued.
Dr Lynch had founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of carrying out a massive fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal in the case in the US.
