Trawler crew's bodies formally identified

Monday 26 December 2022

It's been confirmed today that the two bodies recovered from the wreck of a fishing trawler off St. Ouen's Bay, are those of the two Filipino crewmen.

A search is still continuing for the third person thought to have died - skipper of the L'Ecume II, Michael “Mick” Michieli.

The L'Ecume II sank  after colliding with Condor's Commodore Goodwill freight boat around 05:30 on Thursday 8 December.

Today, Police confirmed that the two bodies recovered from the wreck of the trawler have been identified as crewmen Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat.

Their bodies were found by remotely-operated search equipment soon after the collision, but Mr Michieli has been missing ever since. 

According to his daughter, Rebecca, 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."

She set up a fundraising page to support their families, with a target of £3,000, but has already raised more than £103,000.

Speaking a few days ago, the family of Mr Simyunn paid tribute to a “loving” and “generous” man with “big dreams” who stepped up to the call of being the breadwinner of the family”.

His aunt, Gigi Skye said: "His entire life, Larry has always had such a deep love for his family. He was selflessly driven, devoting everything he had to the people he loved most. He was the definition of courage; a very hard-working hero for his entire family.”