Italian police officers stand at the port as the search continues for six passengers missing from a sailboat that sank off the coast of Porticello, north-western Sicily, on on Monday. AFP

Rescue teams were getting ready in Sicily to resume a search for six missing people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, after a luxury yacht was struck by a violent storm and sank on Monday, killing one on board.

The British-flagged "Bayesian," a 56-metre-long (184-ft) sailboat, which was carrying 22 people, was anchored just off the port of Porticello when it was hit by ferocious weather.

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

The wives of both men were also unaccounted for, Salvatore Cocina, head of Civil Protection in Sicily, told Italian media.

Divers operate in the sea to search for the missing after a luxury yacht sank off Sicily, Italy, on Monday. Reuters

Specialist divers had reached the ship on Monday at a depth of some 50 metres, but access was limited due to objects in the way, the fire brigade said.

Fifteen people had escaped before the boat went down, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a one-year-old girl.

On Monday, rescue teams recovered the body of the yacht's onboard chef, identified as Antiguan citizen Ricardo Thomas.

Reuters