Spies circle the doomed Bayesian superyacht: Italian navy in ‘a race against time’ to retrieve cybersecurity tycoon and James Bond fan Mike Lynch’s stashed hard-drives before spooks from foreign intelligence services can get their hands on them

Italian divers are reportedly busy retrieving Mike Lynch’s stored hard drives from the wreck of the Bayesian superyacht before foreign intelligence agencies get their hands on them.

Seven people died when the Bayesian yacht, a £30m superyacht owned by the founder of Darktrace, sank in just 16 minutes last month after being hit by a torrential downpour.

Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter were killed, along with Morgan Stanley International President Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judith, as well as New York attorney Chris Morvillo and his partner Neda and chef Recaldo Thomas.

According to researchers from Palermo, no personal belongings have yet been found in the shipwreck.

But The Telegraph reported that Italian divers have recovered crucial video equipment that could explain how the Bayesian ship sank.

Italian divers are reportedly busy recovering Mike Lynch’s stored hard drives from the wreck of the superyacht

According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Lynch kept two encrypted hard drives in a safe because he did not trust the cloud with controversial documents.

According to the outlet, his clients also included MI5, the US National Security Agency and the Israeli secret service.

Sources close to Lynch’s family have indicated there is no evidence he had access to intelligence material.

Mr Lynch co-founded the cybersecurity firm Darktrace, which employed intelligence officers, and there was speculation that the firm still had ties to spy agencies.

However, Mr. Lynch had not been involved in the management of the company for a number of years, The Telegraph reported.

Mr Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter died when the yacht sank during a storm

Rescue personnel pictured as they prepare to resume inspection of the wreck of the Bayesian yacht on August 23

Autopsies have been conducted on the victims in Sicily in recent days. Preliminary results suggest that all but one were trapped below deck when they died.

Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew survived the sinking of the Bayesian last month by climbing onto an inflatable life raft.

Autopsies performed on victims at Palermo’s Policlinico hospital earlier this month found no water in their lungs, Italian media reported, reinforcing fears they may have been conscious when the yacht sank.

Although their bodies have since been returned home, doctors in Palermo are still investigating whether they died from drowning or from a lack of oxygen in the cabin.

All of the victims of the disaster were passengers, except for the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas.