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After private yacht sinks, specialists state Mediterranean growing more harmful

The shipwreck of a high-end yacht moored off the coast of Sicily is the most recent sign that the Mediterranean is ending up being a more hazardous sea to cruise in, environment professionals and skippers say.

One guy passed away and six individuals are still missing, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, after the Bayesian, a. 56-metre-long (184-ft) sailboat, was hit by a ferocious storm on. Monday, sinking in a matter of minutes.

Climatologists state global warming is making such violent and. unanticipated tempests more regular in a sea used as a summer. play ground for millions of tourists, including a wealthy couple of. cruising its waters on superyachts.

Luca Mercalli, president of Italy's meteorological society,. said the sea surface temperature around Sicily in the days. leading up to the shipwreck was about 30 degrees Celsius (86. degrees Fahrenheit), almost 3 degrees more than typical.

This produces a massive source of energy that contributes. to these storms, he informed Reuters.

The modifications in Mare Nostrum (Our Sea), as the ancient. Romans called the Mediterranean, are also being discovered by. skilled skippers such as Massimo Aramu, who runs the Akua. sailing school on the coast near the Italian capital.

Currently cruising around Greece, Aramu said he did not like. browsing Italy's Tyrrhenian coast around Sicily or the Spanish. Balearic islands because there are typically vital circumstances. with little caution.

Recently, a storm comparable to the one that sank the Bayesian. strike the Balearic archipelago, which includes the islands of. Ibiza and Mallorca, leaving several private yachts washed up ashore.

Giuliano Gallo, a former skipper who crossed the Atlantic. and has actually written several books on sailing, stated the Mediterranean. was ending up being more like the Caribbean, which has locations that numerous. boats steer clear of at certain times of the year.

However things are less predictable in the Mediterranean,. he said.

Another indication of the more erratic weather condition in the. Mediterranean was seen a year ago when thousands of individuals were. eliminated in Libya by flash floods set off by a so-called. medicane - a supercharged Mediterranean storm sustained by warmer. seas.

Karsten Borner, the captain of a boat that was moored. together with the Bayesian but got away damage, stated Monday's storm had. been very violent, really extreme, a lot of water and I think a. turning system like a twister.

He also blamed more frequent episodes of intense heat during. the summer months for contributing in causing such storms.

The water is ... method too hot for the Mediterranean and this. causes for sure heavy storms, like we had one week back on the. Balearics, like we had two years ago in Corsica and so on, he. said.

(source: Reuters)