The sinking of the Bugaled Breizh is due to a "fishing accident", concludes the British justice

Almost eighteen years have passed since the events.

British justice agreed on Friday November 5 to the thesis of the fishing accident to explain the sinking of the French trawler, the Bugaled Breizh, which killed five people in 2004, dismissing the thesis of the submarine, defended by the families of victims.

Five years after the final dismissal in France, relatives of the victims hoped that the three weeks of hearings held in October at the High Court in London would reveal new elements likely to relaunch the investigation.

But while French justice could not decide between the hypothesis of a submarine and that of a fishing accident, Judge Nigel Lickley was more categorical and showered their hopes: the trawler has " sunk due to a fishing accident ", he ruled in rendering his conclusions, adding that no other vessel was nearby.

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The Breton boat sank very quickly on January 15, 2004 off the coast of Cornwall (south-west of England) where it was fishing in rather good weather conditions.

The five sailors on board had been swept away by the bottom.

"I capsize, come quickly!", Launched that day the boss of Bugaled Breizh ("Children of Brittany" in Breton) Yves Gloaguen, in a distress call to one of his colleagues at midday.

On board the trawler, were five experienced sailors, very "on the safe side", according to their relatives.

Of the five victims, only the bodies of Patrick Gloaguen, Yves Gloaguen and Pascal Le Floch had been found - the first in the wreckage during its refloating, the other two in British waters.

The British proceedings focused on the deaths of the latter two.

Georges Lemétayer and Éric Guillamet were reported missing at sea.

Military exercises

Despite the hopes of the families of the victims, the hypothesis of a collision with a military submarine has moved away over the hearings in London, in favor of that defended by an expert in fishing accidents in which a vessel's equipment would have gripped the bottom.

The presence of three submarines (the Dutch Dolfijn, the German U22 and the British Torbay) was certified in the area, where military exercises were being prepared.

But the suspicions of the families are on another submarine, the British Turbulent.

Before the High Court, the Dutch Navy and the Royal Navy ruled out any involvement, the first claiming that the Dolfijn was sailing on the surface when the accident occurred, the second that the Turbulent was not at sea on the day of the sinking.

"We weren't involved at all. We were docked [in Devonport (southwest England)] on January 15," the then-captain of the submarine said in a much-awaited testimony. British, Andrew Coles.

As for the hypothesis of the presence of an unidentified Allied submarine in the exercise area, it was deemed "unthinkable" by Commander Daniel Simmonds, an underwater operations manager for the Royal Navy.

When the track of a US Navy submarine was mentioned in 2016, the United States had refuted it.

With AFP

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