Fundraiser started by skipper's daughter for Filipino fishers' families tops £70k

Monday 12 December 2022

A fundraiser set up by the daughter of the skipper of the trawler which sank after colliding with a Condor freight ship in aid of the two Filipino crew on board has topped £70,000.

Larry Simyunn and Jervis Ramirez Baligat had been working alongside Mr Michieli on L’Ecume II, which collided with the Commodore Goodwill in St. Ouen’s Bay around 05:30 on Thursday morning.

Despite extensive searches of the area involving Jersey, Guernsey and French authorities, as well as the local fishing community, none of the three have been found.

According to Rebecca Michieli, Mr Baligat and Mr Simyunn would spend up to "nine months at a time" working on the trawler with her father, and would send home "a good proportion of the money they made to their families back home in the Philippines."

She explained: "My family would like to do as much as we can for Larry and Jervis, we know money will never bring them back but we can at least take some of the stress away and allow them time to grieve without the burden of financial troubles."

Pictured: The total at the time of writing.

Rebecca initially set up the fundraising page with a target of £3,000, but managed to generate £50,000 in less than 24 hours.

As of this afternoon, the total now stands at more than £70,000.

In a post on the JustGiving page, Rebecca described being "utterly gobsmacked" by the outpouring of support.

She added: "Although our original target has been far exceeded, we are still asking for people to donate as much or as little as they can. The more we can raise the more relief we can give to their families at such a heartbreaking time.

"We don’t want money to be something they have to be concerned about."

The Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, also announced that he would be launching a special Island Appeal to support all those affected by the maritime tragedy, as well as the Pier Road explosion which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning and for which recovery efforts remain ongoing.

More information about the appeal is expected today.

Pictured top: Jervis Ramirez Baligat, Michael Michieli and Larry Simyunn.