Two bodies found near sunken fishing boat in Jersey

Three fishermen were onboard the vessel which sunk off the coast of Jersey on Thursday

Two bodies have been found near a fishing boat which sank off the coast of Jersey, police have confirmed.

Skipper Michael Michieli and crewmen Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat were onboard the L'Ecume II when it collided with a freight ferry on Thursday.

A search and recovery operation is ongoing, with specialist equipment being used to inspect the vessel.

The fishing trawler collided with the Commodore Goodwill at about 05:30 GMT and sank in about 131ft (40m) of water.

A large offshore support vessel was commissioned by the Ports of Jersey to survey the site.

Police have not confirmed which of the three men have been found.

The L'Ecume II sank in about 131ft (40m) of water

Jersey Coastguard, the RNLI, Channel Islands Air Search, local fishermen and French aircraft were all involved in the widescale effort to find the men.

The search was called off on Friday evening after the Ports of Jersey said all of the rescue activities had "been exhausted".

Ports of Jersey said on Monday that two parallel investigations into the collision were continuing and likely to take several weeks to complete.

An investigation has been commissioned by the minister for economic development, tourism, sport and culture in accordance with Jersey's Shipping Law 2002.

There were signs of a collision on the hull of the Commodore Goodwill

In addition a safety-focused investigation is being run by the Bahamas Maritime Authority, as the flag state for the ferry, in collaboration with Jersey.

Condor Ferries, owners of the Commodore Goodwill, confirmed that after an inspection the vessel had been cleared to re-enter service.

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