Man charged with triple manslaughter over collision between L'Ecume II fishing boat and Condor Ferry

  • ITV Channel's Katya Fowler reports from Jersey Magistrate's Court following the charges

A man has been charged with three counts of manslaughter following a collision between a Condor Ferry and a fishing trawler off Jersey's north west coast.

Artur Sevash-Zade, a Ukranian national, was arrested in the UK and brought to Jersey to appear at the island's Magistrates' Court on Wednesday 3 July.

An intrepreter was present and translated for Mr Sevash-Zade who did not speak throughout the hearing.

The court heard that he works at sea and has no fixed address in either the UK or Jersey.

Bail was refused after concerns were raised that the defendant only has an address overseas in Poland.

Mr Sevash-Zade will be remanded in custody until Friday 6 September when the case will be heard in Jersey's Royal Court.

Reacting to the charges, a Condor Ferries spokesperson said: "Condor Ferries has worked closely with the authorities since the incident in December 2022 to establish what happened.

"We are unable to comment further at this time other than to say that our thoughts remain with all those affected."

The charges concern the deaths of skipper Michael Michieli, Jervis Baligat and Larry Simyunn whose L'Ecume II fishing vessel sank after a collision between the trawler and the Commodore Goodwill on 8 December 2022.

A major search and rescue operation was launched with the bodies of all three men later recovered.

Officials attempted to raise the wreckage of the sunken L'Ecume II with parts of the boat brought back to land to aid the police investigation but work to recover the entire vessel was called off.

Skipper Michael Michieli (left) and his crew Jervis Baligat (middle) and Larry Simyunn (right) were on board the L'Ecume II when it sank. Credit: Ports of Jersey

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