The bodies of two French fishermen who vanished after their boat sank in the English Channel have been recovered. A distress call was made from the vessel, identified as The Maranello, off the coast of Plymouth on Saturday, August 29.
The boat, carrying five crew members, had alerted another trawler, The Stradale, to a problem with its fishing gear. An intensive search was launched involving 15 vessels and aircraft, including a coastguard rescue helicopter, a fixed-wing aircraft, and RNLI lifeboats from Falmouth and Plymouth. Nearby vessels, primarily French fishing boats, also assisted in the operation.
The Stradale managed to rescue three of the five crew members before The Maranello sank. One rescued sailor was airlifted to Truro Hospital, while the others received medical attention in Plymouth. All three survivors have since returned to France.
The wreck of The Maranello was found days later, but the two other fishermen remained missing. A French prosecutor's office confirmed on Saturday that the bodies of the two missing sailors were found off the coast of England, near Plymouth.
Alex Dehays, deputy public prosecutor in Saint-Brieuc, stated that divers located and recovered the bodies. "The investigation, still entrusted to the research section of the maritime gendarmerie in Brest, is therefore switching this evening to an investigation into the causes of death," Dehays said.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) was initially alerted to the vessel's distress just after 6 p.m. on August 29. French patrol vessel FS Flamant and an aircraft from Humberside Airport were deployed to aid search and rescue efforts. Coastguard helicopters and additional RNLI lifeboats joined the response throughout the night and into the following day.