Summary

  • Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are among those missing after a British yacht sank in Sicily
  • British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are also missing
  • The yacht sank in bad weather in the early hours of Monday - 15 were rescued, six are missing, and a man’s body has been recovered
  • The body has not been formally identified, but the Palermo coastguard said it was the ship’s cook
  • The search is continuing on Tuesday - access to the boat’s cabins has been blocked by furniture
  • Separately, it has emerged that Mike Lynch’s co-defendant in a recent major legal case, Stephen Chamberlain, died on Saturday in a road accident
  • @[email protected]
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    8123 days ago

    Now, now. Disaster is a bit excessive when all that’s been missing is some billionaires, don’t you think?

    • @[email protected]
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      5823 days ago

      I mean, there’s also a bunch of staff on those yachts who didn’t deserve to be eaten by orcas.

      • modifier
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        1523 days ago

        Plus at least some environmental damage that results from any boat sinking.

        • @redhorsejacket
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          622 days ago

          I have it on good authority that that isn’t an issue in this instance. They’ve towed the boat outside of the environment.

      • @[email protected]
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        14
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        22 days ago

        The BBC are reporting that all staff were rescued except for the cook whose body has been recovered for what it’s worth.

    • @[email protected]
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      1423 days ago

      AFAIK Mike Lynch was the highest net worth individual on the yacht and Reuters says his net worth is ~$450 million so there may actually not be any missing billionaires. (The Evening Standard claims he had a net worth of £986.4 million which would make him a billionaire in USD but rich lists are often BS so I’m going off what was claimed in court)

    • @[email protected]
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      923 days ago

      Eh, hoping that 18 year old Hannah will be found, she probably hasn’t done anything yet.

    • HubertManne
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      523 days ago

      well and how is this very different than a car crash. people die there to but we just accept it more because its common.

  • Todd Bonzalez
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    4223 days ago

    Condolences to the crew and their families, and only the crew and their families.

      • Ioughttamow
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        2123 days ago

        Ahem, I have a doctorate in crusader kings 2. A few more rounds of gavelkind will destroy their family

        • @[email protected]
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          823 days ago

          May I kindly recommend the intrigue focus? Usually brings up a reason to throw that surplus offspring into the dungeon real fast.

          Also antagonizing them until they challenge you to a duel is also a good strategy.

        • @Viking_Hippie
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          623 days ago

          Or the CK2/3 goodbye AKA assassinating every heir one by one until there’s none left.

      • @[email protected]
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        1123 days ago

        Who will probably spend it all instead of hoarding it until they’re broke at 35 and need to find a real job.

          • @Viking_Hippie
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            23 days ago

            Yeah, it unironically would be. Nothing boosts a consumption based economy like previously hoarded wealth being spent on actual goods and services.

            Which is why MC Hammer and Ringo Starr have both been much better for the US economy than for example Mark Zuckerberg ever was.

            • Cyrus Draegur
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              623 days ago

              i mean yeah i was making my statement SOMEWHAT bitterly as a jab at billionaire “job creators” but it’s absolutely true that what drives an economy is the DEMAND SIDE being able to actually pay for shit X3 which is why i’m a proponent of universal basic income. It sucks wealth out of the places where it’s congealed and stagnant (rich people) and circulates it up through the people who actually spend it on their needs

              • @Viking_Hippie
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                423 days ago

                I agree, with one important caveat: in order to work properly, UBI must be paired with price controls. Otherwise, the profiteers will simply raise prices even more, canceling it out.

                Combining both UBI and price controls on everything needed to survive and support yourself in a modern society (housing, food, water, electricity, heating and/or aircondition, transportation, internet), though, would be EXTREMELY beneficial to literally all of society!

  • @[email protected]
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    23 days ago

    I haven’t been following this, but this thing was pretty large. Did it not have a lifeboat?

    kagis

    Apparently it did, and a few people made it into it, but not all.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3el37z4po

    Karsten Borner, captain of a nearby boat, said after the storm had passed, the crew noticed the yacht that had been behind them had disappeared.

    “We saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position, and we found this life raft drifting,” he told Reuters.

    His crew took on board some survivors, including three who were seriously injured.

    Sounds like it might have flipped pretty quickly, rather than being a slow sinking:

    Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa that the Bayesian’s anchor was down when the storm struck, causing the 72m (236ft) aluminium mast to break in half and the ship to lose its balance and sink.

    The ship’s unusually tall mast may have contributed to its sinking, according to Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council.

    He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the mast acted almost like a sail in the strong wind “especially with it being so high”.

    The extreme winds could have caught the mast and pushed the yacht over, he said.

    One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Golunski, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica how she held up her one-year-old daughter Sofia to stop her from drowning.

    She said the two of them and her partner James survived only because they were up on deck when the yacht sank.

  • @ChicoSuave
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    2223 days ago

    Was it orcas? Are orcas going to start the revolution by violently suppressing the bourgeoisie?

    • @wazoobonkerbrainOP
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      623 days ago

      Yes, it was orcas, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

  • Todd Bonzalez
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    1423 days ago

    Everyone here joking about Orcas when we could be talking about how this boat got hit by a fucking tornado.

    • @Coach
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      722 days ago

      A fucking tornado hell-bent on consuming billionaires??? Yes, please. I’ll take two!

  • @febra
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    1122 days ago

    Funny how this gets plastered all over the news as tens of thousands have been drowning in the Mediterranean for years now without anyone paying much attention.

  • poo
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    1023 days ago

    If only the ocean could continue to eat the rich!

  • @dezmd
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    623 days ago

    This is getting suspicious.

    A bitcoin whale wallet seems to have had $230+ million btc stolen on Monday as well.

      • @dezmd
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        923 days ago

        The co-defendant from the lawsuit also dying is more specifically suspicious, the btc “hack” happening at the same time is just a potential cherry on top.

        • @wazoobonkerbrainOP
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          1823 days ago

          I found it odd that the two co-defendants died within days of each other. But it’s hard to imagine that it was a conspiracy, given that the yacht sank because of a storm. I don’t see any connection to the bitcoin hack.

          • @bedlam
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            1223 days ago

            The storm must have been caused by judicious Cloud Seeding.

            • @wazoobonkerbrainOP
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              923 days ago

              I think you may have your tin foil hat on too tight 😆

              • r00ty
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                323 days ago

                Dude! They only work if they’re on tight!

          • @dezmd
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            523 days ago

            The yacht seemingly sank because of the storm, but we don’t have enough confirmed evidence to make that a factual consideration yet, just a guess. There are a lot of pieces that may connect. The missing people include very high wealth individuals, and the lawsuit angle creates a connection for potential malfeasance.

            What better cover story would work to hide several crimes? Its not necessarily a conspiracy of crime, but it has some weird timing.

      • Iceblade
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        122 days ago

        Not OP but it would be far easier to contrive getting the boat to the storm. Most ships nowadays (particularly big ones) have autopilot. GPS interference or maybe even hacking (I’d bet a billionaires yacht has sattelite internet) could get it off-course without being too noticeable.

        Is it probable? No. Is it possible? Yes.

        It might be worth raising an eyebrow and asking the question at least.

      • @dezmd
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        -723 days ago

        Obviously not, is there a reason you feel it necessary to mock my arbitrary comments on this other than just being a jackass bully?

        • Flying SquidM
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          1023 days ago

          Believe it or not, mockery of your conspiracy theory and bullying you are not the same thing.

          And yes, I think the idea of there being a conspiracy when you can just look at a weather map and see the obvious explanation for what happened is worthy of mockery.

          • @dezmd
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            23 days ago

            Believe it or not, mocking people out of the gate with no context can be construed as being an asshole bully.

            I’m fully open to the idea that its not a conspiracy at all, but you’re too interested in a chance to mock ideas rather than ask or explore anything that diverts from your apparent need to punch down.

            This is a common theme for you and has been for a long time on here, one minute you seem to see yourself as a victim of bullies and even come to others defense, but the next minute you are attacking those you assume are outside of your bubble of belief while pretending sarcastic mocking excuses blithe arrogance.

            This isnt Reddit, why continue to bring that sort of vitriol here?

            • @dogslayeggs
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              523 days ago

              Look, when you say something stupid, you have to expect people to treat you like you are stupid. This isn’t him/her being a bully, this is just the expected result of you implying a tornado sinking a boat is somehow connected to a bitcoin theft.

              • @dezmd
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                -323 days ago

                Weird, thats not all I was doing, but go head, pile on.

            • Flying SquidM
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              123 days ago

              You said something ridiculous and I mocked it. Believe it or not, your statements do not have any right to go unchallenged. And I attacked your statement, not you personally. If you want to make the strange argument that I bullied your statement, go for it.

              • @dezmd
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                -323 days ago

                You didn’t challenge the statement at all, all you did was make a sarcastic quip to mock it without any substantive reasoning, then followed up with dismissiveness when pushed back on.

                Your mocking statements do not have any right to go unchallenged.

                It’s a two way street based on your own logic tree. Let’s stop wasting time with contextual meta nonsense.

                • Flying SquidM
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                  123 days ago

                  You’re welcome to challenge my mocking statements. Complaining that they are bullying when they were not a personal attack, however, is silly.

  • @Treczoks
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    322 days ago

    I heard in the news that this yacht costs hundreds of thousands to hire. They probably had a “business meeting” on board, and most likely would have claimed the cost for renting the yacht as “business expenses” for tax purposes. Just saying.