Yacht Insurer OMAC Is Hull Carrier for Yacht Sunk Off Sicily, Sources Say

Yacht insurance provider OMAC is the carrier on the hull for the Bayesian, a 56-meter-long (184-ft) sailboat, that was hit by a ferocious storm on Monday, sinking off the northern coast of Sicily, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The syndicates providing insurance include Travelers Companies Inc., Navium Marine and Convex, while British Marine is the protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance provider, the sources said.

Reuters could not ascertain the value of the yacht or what the value of potential claims could be.

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Ships typically have P&I insurance, which covers third-party liability claims including environmental damage and injury. Separate hull and machinery policies cover vessels against physical damage.

Convex declined to comment, while OMAC, Travelers, Navium and British Marine did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The British-flagged superyacht was carrying 22 people and anchored off the port of Porticello when it was hit by a fierce, pre-dawn storm on Monday. Fifteen people managed to escape the yacht before it capsized.

Four bodies were found on Wednesday aboard the sunken wreck of the yacht belonging to the wife of British tech magnate Mike Lynch, sources close to the rescue operation told Reuters.

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The global yacht insurance market has faced significant challenges in recent years, largely due to natural disasters like Hurricane Maria in 2017 and Hurricane Ian in 2022, which devastated numerous charter bases and hundreds of yachts.

In response, insurers have increased rates and reevaluated their guidelines and risk appetite. Insured losses in the market have mostly stemmed from hurricanes, severe storms, floods, and other weather events in North America, the Caribbean, and Europe, according to a report by broker Marsh.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; editing by Michelle Price and Sandra Maler)

Photograph: Italian firefighters scuba divers are docked at the harbor of Porticello, southern Italy, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, as rescue teams returned to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull 50 meters (164-feet) underwater. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)