A man who died when the fishing boat he was on collided with a Condor ferry in the Channel has been named as French fisherman Phillippe Claude Lesaulnier
A man who died as a result of a collision with the Condor Vitesse yesterday has been named as 42-year-old Phillippe Claude Lesaulnier.
The Condor Vitesse was travelling from St Malo to St Helier yesterday morning when it collided with the French fishing boat Les Marquises in thick fog just before 8am.
Julian Buesnel, MD of Bluewater Supplies, who was a passenger aboard the ferry, described the moment of impact: “We heard a bang and the whole ship juddered. Some people reported seeing a large object fly past the window and another reported looking back into the wake to see a boat appear to be sliced in half, but the fog was so thick that you couldn’t see much.
“Eventually several of us saw what looked like two or three people standing on floating wreckage waving and shouting, but they kept disappearing in the fog.”
Both the inshore and offshore Jersey lifeboats were launched and a helicopter was sent from Granville. Two men were recovered from the water and taken aboard the Vitesse while Lesaulnier was recovered by a fishing boat and taken to hospital by lifeboat where he later died.
Reports suggest that the ferry was travelling at around 37 knots at the time of the crash, which occurred just east of the Minquiers.
The incident is being investigated by French authorities and they are expected to announce later whether anyone will face charges.
For a full video report of the incident from channelonline.tv click here.
