View from a drone of the Bayesian rising out of the sea. Photo: Reuters

Super heavy lift floating crane Hebo Lift 10, owned by Hebo Maritiemservice in the Netherlands, raised the sunken superyacht Bayesian from the seabed off the coast of Sicily.

Hebo’s 2,200 tonne capacity sheerlegs vessel, previously known as Taklift 4, lifted the 540 tonne, 56 metre-long and 11.5 metre-wide yacht on 21 June. It was 10 months after it sank in bad weather, killing its owner, tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others.

The smaller multipurpose crane barge Hebo Lift 2, carrying a lattice boom crane, assisted with the salvage operation.  

As it broke the surface suspended from the crane Bayesian’s upper deck appeared badly damaged and its blue hull was covered in mud after lying on the seabed at a depth of 50 metres.

With Bayesian out of the water the salvage team, led by British company TMC Marine, pumped out the hull as the vessel was held in an elevated position, surrounded by pollution containment booms. Further checks were then carried out.

“This was a complex and precise lifting operation to recover Bayesian, and followed a step-by-step programme of salvage work,” said Marcus Cave, a TMC Marine director.

Next stop for the Bayesian was to carry it to port before lifting it on to a specially manufactured steel cradle at the quayside.

Recovery was made easier after the vessel’s 72-metre mast was detached while still submerged using a remote-controlled cutting tool and placed on the seabed on Tuesday. It was reported as the world’s tallest aluminium mast.

Close up of the two pairs of lifting beams and complex rigging on Hebo Lift 10. Photo: Reuters

Floating sheerlegs

Hebo Lift 10, designed and built in 1981 by Huisman and Itrec, is the Dutch company Hebo’s largest floating sheerlegs lifting vessel. Capacity is 2,200 tonnes and its maximum lifting height is 83.2 metres. It started out as a 1,600 tonner, standing at 52.4 metres.

In 1984 Huisman added a 17 metre, 600 tonne capacity, jib. Later, in 1994, the jib was replaced with a 30 metre one that would lift 1,400 tonnes. A further upgrade, in 2010, saw capacity increased to 2,200 tonnes.

Taklift 4 has carried out many heavy lift projects, for example, construction of the Canakkale Bridge in Turkey, and ship salvage operations, including high profile ones for contractor Smit Tak, such as the Herald of Free Enterprise in 1987.

Hebo acquired Taklift 4 from Boskalis Offshore in 2022. Other sheerlegs in the Hebo fleet include the 1,800 tonne capacity Matador 3, 800 tonne Hebo Lift 9, 400 tonne Matador 2 and Matador, plus multiple 300 tonners and smaller.

Looking from the front, at the bow of Bayesian, as water is pumped out of its hull. Photo: Reuters