|
HOPES of finding alive a Devon fishermen missing since he fell overboard off the north French coast on Sunday have now been given up.
His vessel, the Etoile des Ondes was in collision with an unidentified ship in the Channel. Three other members of the fishing vessel, which normally sails out of Weymouth in Dorset, were rescued by a helicopter and landed on a passing ferry which has since docked in France. They have been undergoing treatment but are thought to be a fairly good condition.
The missing man is aged 21, from Teignmouth and a member of a local fishing family. His relatives have been informed. Although he was wearing oilskins, his colleagues have told French police that he was not wearing a lifejacket at the time of the collision, but even so it was unlikely that he would have survived for more than an hour two in such cold seas. Coastguards have recently been trying to encourage fishing crews to wear buoyancy aids when on deck at all times.
The circumstances of the sinking are still under investigation, both the coastguards and police said today. So far they have not been able to establish the size or identity of the other vessel in the collision. Devon police said a full inquiry will be launched into the incident, but the English Channel is one of the busiest waterways in the world and collision remains a higher than average risk for fishing boats operating from both sides of the Channel.
Should people be 'stimulated' to eat white fish alternatives to cod?
