There are numerous questions about what caused the superyacht to sink so quickly, while a nearby sailboat was largely spared.

Divers have searched the wreck of a superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily and found the bodies of five passengers. They are currently searching for another passenger. More and more questions are being raised about why the ship sank so quickly while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.

Rescue teams unloaded three body bags from rescue ships that docked at Porticello harbor on Wednesday.

Salvatore Cocina, head of the Sicilian civil protection agency, said two more bodies were found in the rubble.

The bodies of British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those found between two mattresses in one of the ship’s cabins, The Telegraph reported.

The Bayesian, a 56-metre British-flagged yacht, sank in a storm early Monday morning while anchored about a kilometre offshore. Civil defence officials said they believed the vessel was struck by an overwater tornado, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.

Fifteen people managed to escape in a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby sailboat. One body was recovered on Monday – that of the yacht’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, who was from Antigua.

Lynch, 59, was one of Britain’s best-known tech entrepreneurs and had invited friends to join him on the yacht to celebrate his recent acquittal in a fraud trial in the US.

In addition to Lynch and his daughter, Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, CEO of Morgan Stanley International, as well as Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo were also missing after the disaster.

The yacht remains lying on its side on the seabed, 50 metres underwater – a depth that required special precautions, making recovery operations difficult. Divers can only stay on the vessel for 8-10 minutes before having to resurface.

Investigators from the Termini Imerese public prosecutor’s office were looking for evidence for their criminal investigation, which they launched immediately after the tragedy, although no official suspects have yet been publicly identified.

Questions abound as to what caused the superyacht, built by Italian shipyard Perini Navi in ​​2008, to sink quickly, while the nearby sailboat Sir Robert Baden Powell was largely spared and managed to rescue the 15 survivors.

Experts want to know something about the position of the keel: on a large sailing boat like the Bayesian, it could have been retractable to allow entry into shallower harbors, or whether the ship was hit by an unusual waterspout and simply pushed onto its side.

“There is great uncertainty as to whether it had a lifting keel and whether it may have been topside,” said Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects and editor of the Journal of Sailing Technology.

“However, if that were the case, it would reduce the stability of the ship and make it more likely to tip over on its side,” he said in an interview.

Yachts like the Bayesian must also have watertight sub-compartments specifically designed to prevent rapid, catastrophic sinking, even if some parts fill with water.

“If the ship can sink, especially that quickly, you have to expect water to come on board very quickly, but also in several places along the length of the ship, which again suggests that it may have rolled onto its side,” Souppez said.