INQUESTS into the deaths of the two Filipino fishermen who died after the L’Ecume II trawler collided with the Condor Commodore Goodwill last month were opened this morning.
Deputy Viscount Mark Harris, the presiding coroner, explained that the purpose of the hearing was to formally release the bodies of the deceased to allow applications for repatriation and funeral arrangements to be made.
He adjourned the inquests until a later date to allow further investigations to take place.
The L’Ecume II, skippered by Michael Michieli, sank after colliding with Condor’s Commodore Goodwill freight ship off Jersey’s west coast at around 5.30am on Thursday 8 December.
On Boxing Day, the police confirmed that two bodies recovered from the wreck by an unmanned craft several days after the incident were those of Filipino crewmen Jervis Ramirez Baligat and Larry Simyunn.
However, the search of the trawler has now concluded and the body of Mr Michieli is yet to be found.
At this morning’s inquest, senior identification manager Chief Inspector Chris Beechey said that established, internationally-agreed disaster victim identification (DVI) procedures had been followed in order to identify the bodies of the two Filipino’s.
He explained that DVI procedures require victims to be identified using one primary method of identification – DNA, fingerprints, or dental records – which is then backed up using secondary identification evidence.
Post-mortems into the deaths of the two men were carried out on 20 and 21 December. Both causes of death remain undetermined, pending the results of laboratory investigations carried out by pathologists.
