The bodies of two French fishermen who went missing after their trawler sank off Plymouth have been recovered, French prosecutors have confirmed.
The fishermen had been missing since 29 August, when the French-registered fishing vessel Maranello sank in the English Channel with five people aboard.
Three crew members were rescued before the vessel went down. The other two remained missing despite a large search involving British and French rescue teams.
The bodies were recovered by divers on Saturday, 5 September, after weather conditions improved enough for the underwater operation to resume.
What happened to the Maranello?
The Maranello, a fishing trawler registered in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, was operating about 26 nautical miles (around 48 km) south-west of Plymouth, near the Eddystone Lighthouse, when the incident happened.
At about 6pm BST on 29 August, the crew reported problems involving the vessel’s fishing gear and raised a distress call.
Another French fishing vessel, the Stradale, was nearby and moved to assist.
Three of the five people aboard the Maranello were rescued before the trawler sank.
One of the rescued fishermen was injured and was taken by helicopter to Truro Hospital, while the other two were taken to Plymouth for medical treatment.
The exact circumstances that caused the Maranello to sink remain under investigation.
Major UK-French search operation
The incident triggered a major international search operation coordinated by the Falmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre because the sinking occurred within a British maritime area of responsibility.
HM Coastguard, RNLI lifeboats and aircraft were involved, with support from French authorities and the French Navy.
French assets included a Falcon 50 maritime patrol aircraft, while fishing vessels in the area also assisted the search. More than 15 vessels were reported to have taken part during the wider rescue effort.
The search continued into the following days but was suspended after about two days.
At that point, the two missing fishermen were not believed likely to have survived.
Wreck located before bodies were recovered
The Maranello itself was located on the seabed during the week before the bodies were found.
Its position was close to the area associated with its last known transmission, south-west of the Eddystone Lighthouse.
However, locating the wreck did not immediately allow divers to enter it.
Weather and sea conditions had made the underwater recovery operation difficult. French prosecutors said conditions improved on Saturday, allowing specialist divers to return to the site.
Divers recovered the two bodies
Alex Dehays, deputy public prosecutor in Saint-Brieuc, said an initial dive on Saturday morning was used to locate the site and assess whether the recovery operation could safely proceed.
Divers later returned and recovered the bodies of the two missing fishermen from the wreck.
The recovery ended the search for the two crew members who had remained unaccounted for since the sinking eight days earlier.
French reports identified the missing men as the captain and chief mate of the vessel.
Investigation into the sinking
The recovery has now shifted the focus from the search for the missing fishermen to determining what caused their deaths and why the Maranello sank.
The investigation remains under the authority of the research section of France’s maritime gendarmerie in Brest, according to the Saint-Brieuc prosecutor’s office.
The investigation is now moving into an examination of the causes of death.
Authorities have not announced a final explanation for the sinking.
Initial reports said the vessel had experienced problems with its fishing gear shortly before it went down, but investigators will need to establish the precise sequence of events.
Three crew members survived
Three of the five people aboard the Maranello survived the sinking after being rescued by the nearby Stradale.
Their rescue was carried out before the trawler disappeared beneath the water.
The survivors were brought to the UK for medical treatment before arrangements were made for their return to France.
The recovery of the two missing fishermen means all five members of the Maranello’s crew have now been accounted for.
What happens next?
French authorities are expected to continue examining the circumstances surrounding the sinking and the deaths of the two fishermen.
Investigators will be looking at the vessel, its equipment, the sequence of events before the distress call, and other available evidence.
The case also involved cooperation between British and French maritime authorities because the accident occurred in waters under British search-and-rescue responsibility but involved a French-registered fishing vessel and French crew.
The recovery operation has now ended, but the investigation into what happened aboard the Maranello continues.
