THE chairman of an international insurance company with an office in York has been confirmed as one of the people whose bodies have been brought to shore after the sinking of a luxury yacht in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.

Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy Bloomer were lost when the Bayesian was hit by a storm and sank at around 5am on Monday (August 19).

Mr Bloomer was chairman of insurance company Hiscox, which has a purpose-built office in Peasholme Green in York, and chairman of Morgan Stanley International and property business SDL, and was chief executive of global financial group Prudential between 2000 and 2005.

In a statement confirming their parents’ deaths, the Bloomer family described the couple as ‘incredible people and an inspiration to many’.

They said: “We are grieving for our loved ones and all of those affected by the tragedy.

“Our parents were incredible people and an inspiration to many, but first and foremost they were focused on and loved their family and spending time with their new grandchildren.

“Together for five decades, our only comfort is that they are still together now.

“This is an unimaginable grief to shoulder.”

Chief executive of Hiscox Aki Hussain said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by Jonathan and Judy’s tragic deaths.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to their family and friends at this devastating time.

“It was a privilege to have known Jonathan and to have benefited from his generosity and wisdom over the last year in his role as chair of Hiscox.

“His deep experience across our industry and in the broader business arena, combined with his personal values, made him both an excellent chair and a person I was proud to know and work with.

“His advice and support were immensely valuable to me, and he will be dearly missed.”

The other victims whose bodies have been brought to shore in the small fishing village of Porticello, around 11 miles from the Sicilian capital of Palermo, are technology tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo.

The first body recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday was that of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the Bayesian superyacht, the Italian coastguard told Sky News.

Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping onto a lifeboat.