The captain of the Bayesian superyacht that capsized off the Italian coast near Sicily has broken his silence on the deadly disaster. 

James Catfield, named by Italian media as one of the 15 people who were rescued from the wreck, told La Republica: “We didn’t see it coming.”

One person – believed to be the ship’s chef Canadian Ricardo Thomas – was found dead after the sinking.

The Bayesian is believed to have been struck by a deadly waterspout around 5am local time on Monday which caused the 240-foot mast of the vessel to snap and making the boat capsize.

22 people, including 12 crew and 10 passengers, were on board at the time of the disaster.

The ship was owned by British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who is among those still missing. His 18-year-old daughter Hannah, British banker Jonathan Bloomer, who is the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy, and Mr Lynch’s attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Nada are also still unaccounted for. 

So far 15 people have been pulled from the wreckage alive, including a British mother and her one-year-old child.

The Bayesian was moored around half-a-mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank at about 5am local time on Monday as the area was hit by a storm and a powerful waterspout. 

Mr Lynch, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of conducting a massive fraud relating to an 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.

His co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday. The British-flagged Bayesian is resting on the seabed at a depth of 50 metres.

Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew onboard, including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares were rescued. 

The Financial Times reported that Mr Bloomer appeared at trial as a defence witness for Mr Lynch, while media reports suggest the pair are close friends. Mr Bloomer is also chairman of insurance provider Hiscox. His wife Judy is also unaccounted for.

Ayla Ronald, a New Zealand national working at law firm Clifford Chance, survived the ordeal. Her father Lin Ronald confirmed to the Telegraph she had been invited aboard as a thanks for assistance in Mr Lynch’s recent court case.

He said: “I have texted my daughter and she hasn’t given me any updates about missing personnel or saved personnel. She has only said that there are deaths and she and her partner are alive.”