Filipino crew missing after trawler collision named

Sunday 11 December 2022

The two fishers from the Philippines who were on board the trawler which sank after colliding with a Condor freight ship have been named.

Larry Simyunn and Jervis Ramirez Baligat had been working alongside skipper Michael 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 Mr Michieli's daughter, Rebecca, the Mr Baligat and Mr Simyunn would spend up to "nine months at a time" working on the trawler, and would send home "a good proportion of the money they made to their families back home in the Philippines."

Yesterday, Rebecca set up a fundraising page to support their families, with a target of £3,000, but has raised close to £50,000 in less than 24 hours.

Pictured: The total at the time of writing.

"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," she said.

The Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, this afternoon 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 this afternoon.

Pictured top: Larry Simyunn (left) and Jervis Ramirez Baligat (right), with L'Ecume II in the background (photo by Rob Currie).