Mike Lynch's sunken yacht to be pulled from Sicilian waters in May

Other potential salvage plans, which involved turning the 55.9-metre yacht, which weighs 534 tonnes, almost 90 degrees on the seabed without dismantling its mast, were rejected because of the complexity of the procedure.

Prosecutors in the town of Termini Imerese, near Palermo, have placed three crew members under investigation: Captain James Cutfield, ship engineer Tim Parker Eaton and night watch duty sailor Matthew Griffiths.