Tens of thousands raised for families of Jersey fishermen missing since freighter collision

Tens of thousands of pounds have been raised to support the families of three Jersey fishermen who have been missing since their boat sunk off the island's west coast.

The L'Ecume II is believed to have gone down in around 40m of water after colliding with Condor Ferries' freighter, the Commodore Goodwill.

Skipper Michael 'Mick' Michieli and Filipino crew members Larry Simyun and Jervis Baligat are were on board at the time.

Rebecca Michieli - Michael's daughter - set up a fundraiser to support the families of his two crewmen.

The initial target set was £3,000, but as of 7am on Monday 12 December, the figure had surpassed that - reaching more than £65,000.

In response to islanders' generosity on the fundraising page, she wrote: "We are utterly gobsmacked by the response so far and would like to thank everyone that has donated.

"Although our original target has been far exceeded we are still asking for people to donate as much or as little as they can.

"The more we can raise the more relief we can give to their families at such a heartbreaking time.

"We don’t want money to be something they have to be concerned about."

On her JustGiving page, Rebecca says: "Larry and Jervis would spend nine months at a time working with my dad and sending home a good portion of the money they made to their families back home in the Philippines.

"Jervis had just been home for three months and was back for another nine months as he was so fond of my dad and the work he was doing.

"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."

More than 2,100 supporters have given to the fundraiser so far.

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