A body has been found but six people are still missing after a superyacht with mostly British passengers on board sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily.

About 15 people were rescued from the 55 m (180 ft) long ship, including a one-year-old English girl and her mother.

Here is everything we know about the sinking of the luxury ship until now.

Follow the live updates: People missing after superyacht sank

What could have been the cause of the sinking?

The British-flagged luxury ship, named Bayesian, capsized off Palermo at around 4:30 a.m. local time, according to ship tracking website Marine Traffic.

According to the Italian Coast Guard, the ship sank with 22 people on board, including twelve passengers and a crew of ten.

Waterspouts, essentially tornadoes that form over water, were described as strong winds that hit the area overnight, local media reported.

What are waterspouts?

Waterspouts typically occur during thunderstorms and can develop very quickly, within minutes.

They generally rotate at wind speeds between 75 and 200 miles per hour, but can reach over 300 miles per hour.

They can usually reach speeds of around 10 to 20 miles per hour, but can sometimes reach higher speeds, making them difficult to avoid – especially in a vehicle as slow as a yacht.

Who owns the yacht?

British tech tycoon Michael Lynch is among the six missing people.

The 59-year-old owner of the yacht is known as the “British Bill Gates” and has made headlines in recent months because of a sensational fraud case.

In June, a US jury acquitted him of all chargesrelated to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

HP accused him of deliberately inflating the value of the company before it was taken over by the US technology group.

In May last year, Lynch was extradited to the United States for trial and spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco while awaiting trial on 17 counts of conspiracy and wire fraud brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. The charges were later reduced to 15.

He always denied any wrongdoing and was acquitted.

It was confirmed that Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was among those rescued.

Who was on board when the boat sank?

The Italian coast guard said there were passengers from Great Britain, America and Canada on board the ship.

Most of the people on board the yacht were British, Italian news agencies reported. The others were reportedly from New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland and were British-French citizens.

Four of the missing passengers are British and two Americans, reported the Italian news website “La Repubblica”.

Eight of those rescued were taken to local hospitals and all were in stable condition, local media reported.

According to Salvo Cocina, head of Sicily’s civil protection, divers saw “corpses through the portholes” of the wreck during rescue operations when they recovered the body of a man at a depth of 50 m.

What do we know about the ship?

The Bayesian Project was known for its unusual 75 m (246 ft) single mast – one of the tallest aluminum masts in the world.

It was built in 2008 by the Italian company Perini Navi and last overhauled in 2020.

According to online charter sites, it was offered for rent for up to 195,000 euros (166,000 pounds) per week.

The luxury ship, managed by the yacht company Camper & Nicholsons, offers space for up to 12 guests in six suites.

According to online yachting sites, the company has won a number of awards for its design.

The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on August 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “at anchor,” according to vessel tracking site VesselFinder.

When the ship still sailed under the Dutch flag, it was named Salute, which means “health” in Italian. Its minimalist interior features light wood with Japanese accents and was designed by French designer Remi Tessier, according to descriptions on charter websites.

The public prosecutor’s office in the nearby town of Termini Imerese has launched an investigation into the sinking of the ship.