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Trawler fisherman missing at sea Search for missing fisherman ends
(about 12 hours later)
A fisherman is missing and feared dead in the English Channel after a trawler boat with seven people on board ran into difficulties. Coastguards have called off the search for a fisherman who is missing and feared dead in the English Channel after a trawler ran into difficulties.
Six crew members on board the 180-ton French boat Monbijou were rescued by helicopter 20 miles off Dungeness, on the French side of the Channel.Six crew members on board the 180-ton French boat Monbijou were rescued by helicopter 20 miles off Dungeness, on the French side of the Channel.
But a spokesman for Dover Coastguard, which helped with the operation, said a seventh crew member was still missing. But Dover Coastguard, which helped with the operation, said the search for the seventh crew member had ended.
He said hopes of finding the man were remote but the search would resume. It said the boat ran into difficulties in "horrendous" conditions on Friday.
The weather conditions in the Channel overnight were horrendous Barry Woodward, Dover Coastguard 'Minimal hope'
Barry Woodward, the coastguard spokesman, said the six rescued crew members had been hauled to safety by a Belgian rescue helicopter. A spotter plane and the British tug boat Anglian Monarch were involved in a cross-Channel search from first light on Saturday.
He said the search for the seventh man would begin again at first light, using specialist search software and with the British tug boat Anglian Monarch involved. A spokesman for Dover Coastguard said: "The search has been called off because there is minimal hope of finding him. It won't resume. The trawler is semi-submerged but it is too stormy for recovery to be made.
Mr Woodward said: "The vessel is partly submerged but still afloat with the bow sticking out of the water. "It will probably take a day or two to sink fully and in the meantime we are broadcasting navigation warnings to passing vessels to make them aware of the trawler."
"What possessed it to get into trouble is unclear at this stage because it is a big, sturdy vessel. He said the partly submerged boat posed little pollution risk as it was carrying only a small amount of diesel.
"But the weather conditions in the Channel overnight were horrendous, at least Gale Force Eight, so that may offer some explanation about why it got into difficulties."
He said the chances of finding the missing man alive were "not great" and made worse by more bad weather being expected to sweep through the Channel.