The sunken Bayesian superyacht was in an "unstable situation" and could be a subject of possible "negligence" after sinking off the Italian coast, it has been claimed.
The bodies of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah have been recovered from the vessel after it sunk off the coast of Sicily on Monday, the Chief of Civil Protection confirmed.
The pair were among six missing on board the 184ft-yacht following a violent spell of weather in the early hours. 15 survivors managed to escape the vessel, with search crews scouring the waters to find the others.
Speaking to GB News, Royal Navy Forecaster Jim Dale warned that the tragic incident has "meteorology written all over it", as the superyacht was "struck by a tornado" before sinking.
Royal Navy Forecaster Jim Dale says the superyacht was in an 'unstable situation' before the storm struck the vessel
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Discussing the situation on the Sicilian coast, Dale revealed: "A couple of clues are coming out now. On the day itself, there were apparently 19 reported waterspouts within the local area.
"If you're the captain of that particular yacht, you've got to be concerned with this. You've got to be concerned that this is a very unstable situation."
Noting the decision of the captain to leave the harbour, Dale claimed that it would have been a "lesser risk" if the vessel had remained in the port.
Dale told GB News: "Anchoring in a harbour out to sea rather than in the port would have put them more at risk than being in the port itself.
Five bodies were recovered in search operations of the superyacht today, two of which are thought to be Mike and Hannah Lynch
PA
"This is an unfortunate incident, but I'm going to use one word now that might be put forward in the future. And that is potential negligence, in terms of why that particular yacht was where it was in such an unstable weather situation."
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Offering his condolences to those who did not survive the sinking, Dale also claimed the survivors must have "got an early warning" of what was to come due to the "noise of the waves and the waterspouts".
Dale said: "Thankfully they had their wits about them to get to the right position and to eventually survive. Those that are being found in sadly in their cabins now, would have been asleep most likely.
"You've got to act very quickly in these circumstances and certainly with no degree of panic, because that's the last thing you need to do."
Praising the efforts of the Italian search teams, Dale hailed the "modern technology" used by the divers to successfully locate the bodies which remained on board.
The 184ft-yacht sunk in the early hours of Monday following a storm off the coast of Sicily
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He told host Martin Daubney: "Modern technology has made this particular operation happen, and divers can get a 12-minute window.
"And the modern technology is actually working, because in my day in the Navy, that would not have been the case. It would have been a long haul, and perhaps some of those bodies would never have been found."
Dale added: "But unfortunately what we're seeing at the moment in terms of the recovery of the bodies was almost inevitable. In water, survival chances are diminished by the minute.
"So two and a half days later, we're into the position now where it's bodies that have been recovered rather than anything else."