What is a waterspout, one of the theories behind the sinking of the luxury yacht in Sicily

Several dead, missing and a shipwreck that remains a mystery. The tragic accident which took place last Monday on the luxury yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily, Italy continues to have an impact on the world.

Although the reason for the incident is still unknown, The yacht eventually sank 60 meters deep into the sea.

According to reports submitted so far, seven bodies have been found.

Among them is that of the British Mike Lynch—a renowned technology entrepreneur— Jonathan Bloomer — chairman of Morgan Stanley International — and his wife Judy Bloomer, Chris Morvillo — Lynch’s lawyer —, as well as his wife Neda Morvillo and Recalde Thomas, the yacht’s cook.

A few hours ago, The body of Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, was found by divers, according to local media.

At the time of the tragedy, there were 22 people on board. 15 of them survived. One of the passengers is a mother who told reporters she had to hold her one-year-old baby tightly to save him from the waves.

Today, the Coast Guard continues to work to find more survivors. In the meantime, Experts and the world are wondering what could have sunk the yacht and caused a tragedy of such magnitude.

This is one of the theories.

According to BBC World The yacht’s latest record is that it remained in “anchored” status, east of Palermo, on Sunday afternoon.

With this context, Experts believe the yacht may have been hit by a water tornado, better known as a waterspout, which then caused its sinking.

These tornadoes They are rotating columns of wind that have the ability to destroy everything in their path and can form on land or in the sea. On this occasion, it was a tornado coming from the ocean that could have hit the yacht.

Compared to tornadoes that form on land (which carry and spin objects, dust and debris), The intense wind of the waterspouts throws up the water rising from the sea.

These phenomena are not rare. According to the International Center for Waterspout Research , On August 19, at least 18 waterspouts occurred off the coast of Italy, raising suspicions that they were the cause of the Bayesian yacht tragedy.

Now how could a waterspout sink a yacht?

According to a navigation expert consulted by the BBC, It is very likely that due to the heat —it was 33 degrees Celsius the day before the sinking—, Passengers on the Bayesian had their windows and doors open during the night, which would have allowed seawater to suddenly enter the ship during the collision with a waterspout.

“What I believe is that the boat was hit very hard by the wind, which caused it to turn to the side. I guess all the doors were open because it was hot, so “There were enough open spaces that allowed the boat to fill with water very quickly,” assured the editor-in-chief of the navigation magazine Navigate today , Sam Jefferson.

In addition, The yacht’s mast is said to have played a major role: it measures 76 meters and is considered the second tallest in the world. Jefferson believes that this element of the ship would have acted “like a sail” and would have pushed the ship forcefully to the side.

“The yacht would have filled with water before it could return to its normal position. “This is just speculation, but it is the only logical explanation.”

In fact, Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht that was nearby when the storm hit, told the Italian newspaper: Corriere della Sera that There was “a strong gust of hurricane wind” and it was too difficult for him to keep his boat steady, even though it was anchored.

He also claimed to have witnessed how the yacht’s mast “bent and broke”.

The latter, however, is not confirmed by the authorities: according to the head of the UK’s Maritime Search and Rescue Council, Matthew Schanck, “The evidence we are getting from the divers indicates that the boat is basically intact, supposedly thrown on its side (…) If the mast had broken, that would be important information.”

Even so, he assured that these are still conjectures, because it is still difficult to explain what exactly happened with the Bayesian.

Furthermore, the expert added that Boats like this yacht “are not designed to sail through tornadoes or waterspouts.”

According to specialists, Waterspouts are more common when sea temperatures are higher, because this heat serves as “fuel” for the storms.

In fact, in recent weeks the Mediterranean Sea has reached a historical temperature record, which would have influenced the outbreak of the recorded storms.

According to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change service , Sea surface temperatures in the region have repeatedly exceeded 30°C. To give you an idea of ​​the magnitude of this figure, it would be 4 degrees higher than the average of the last 20 years at the same time.

This, according to scientists, would be the work of climate change that is affecting the world, since Oceans are one of the regions most affected by the drastic increase in temperatures. Water typically absorbs about 90% of excess heat.

This is why there is concern in the scientific world, since Excess heat in the ocean makes phenomena such as waterspouts, which could have caused the Bayesian accident, more frequent and even more intense. as the thermometer rises.