Latest Sicilian cruise: Brits join tycoon Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley’s Jonathan Bloomer

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four inspectors had been sent to Sicily to carry out a “preliminary assessment,” Reuters reported.

One expert on the scene who declined to be named said the initial focus of the investigation was whether the cruise ship crew had time to close the access doors to the vessel before the storm hit.

A Dutch ship captain close to the Reuters news agency said that when the wind picked up, he used the engine to keep his boat and avoid colliding with the Bayesian, which was stationed next to him.

“We were able to keep the ship in position and after the storm ended, we saw that the ship behind us had disappeared,” Karsten Borner told reporters.

The other boat “stayed in the water, then went down”, he added.

He said his crew found several survivors in the raft – including the girl and her mother – and brought them aboard before the coastguard took them away.

He added: “I feel inside, everyone is missing.”

One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Emsley, told la Republica: “I held him with all my strength, my hands up so he wouldn’t drown.

Daily newspaper Il Giornale di Sicilia reported that the ship had mostly British passengers, but also people from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Anglo-French citizens.

Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Lynch in the long-standing trial in the US, were among the missing.

The wives of the two men have also not been identified, said Salvatore Cocina, head of Civil Protection in Sicily.

Reality star Gemma Collins has revealed that she and her nephew were “lucky to have survived” in a small boat rocked by a terrifying storm that capsized Mike Lynch’s yacht off the coast of Sicily.

Mike Lynch, dubbed Britain’s Bill Gates, is still missing along with his daughter, Hannah, 18, who has completed A-levels and plans to read English at Oxford.

The Only Way is Essex star reassured her followers that she and 15-year-old niece Hayden are doing well with an Instagram post featuring her posing on a yacht in the Mediterranean.

He wrote: “Holiday update. My condolences to the people and families involved in the tragic disaster at sea in Sicily.

“My nephew and I were very lucky to survive the storm at sea. I’m shaking and going back to the UK tomorrow, God is with us today. We were stuck for 4 hours you can imagine what was going through my mind. Thank you @bluediamondcruise for bringing me we returned safely.

Still missing is Christopher Morvillo, a top lawyer who has worked on high-profile corruption cases, including the recent Mike Lynch trial.

Lawyers at the US branch of Clifford Chance and his wife Neda have not been seen since the Bayesian set up in Palermo on Saturday morning after being caught in bad weather.

He also worked on the criminal investigation of the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, as an assistant US attorney for the southern district of New York from 1999 to 2005.

In a tragic final LinkedIn post Mr Morvillo thanked all the legal minds who had helped Mr Lynch win a fraud trial in June after a mammoth 10-year court battle. Registering, he said: “And, finally, a big thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, intelligent, and beautiful children, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo. Nothing would have been possible without their love and support you. I’m so happy at home. “And they all live happily ever after….”

Mike Lynch, a 59-year-old businessman, nicknamed the British Bill Gates, is still missing and presumed dead along with his daughter, Hannah, 18, after their superyacht capsized off the coast of Italy.

He has invited his fellow Bayesians to celebrate his victory in the decade-long US fraud trial that ended in June.

Jonathan Bloomer, 70, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, is also missing along with his wife Anne and two others.

Yesterday divers recovered the body of the yacht’s cook, while 15 people including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued.

Also missing was Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at British law firm Clifford Chance, The Times reported last night.

Ayla Reynold, a New Zealander who works at Clifford Chance, survived the ordeal. Lin Ronald’s father confirmed to Telegraph he has been invited on the plane as thanks for his assistance in Mr. Lynch’s new court case.

“I have texted my daughter and she has not informed me about the missing personnel or the saved personnel. She just said that someone has died and that she and her partner are still alive,” he said.

A fishing boat sails past a coast guard vessel operating at sea in search of British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and others will continue the day after the luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.

Lynch and her daughter Hannah were among six tourists missing after their cruise ship, named the Bayesian, capsized during a strong storm off the coast of Palermo on Monday.

The Italian fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said in its latest update that the initial inspection of the accident by cave divers was “unsuccessful”.

This is due to limited access to the bridge and furniture blocking the way, he said.

The wreckage of the super yacht lies 50m deep on the seabed after it crashed near the Sicilian capital, Palermo.