Man charged in connection with Jersey fishermen deaths

A man has been remanded in custody after being charged in connection with the deaths of three fishermen in 2022.

The fishing boat L’Ecume II sank after a collision with the Commodore Goodwill ferry off Jersey in December 2022, with Micheal Michieli, Jervis Ramirez Baligat and Larry Simyunn onboard.

Artur Sevash-Zade, a Ukrainian national who was arrested in the UK and brought to the island, appeared in Jersey’s Magistrate’s Court with an interpreter as he was charged with the unlawful killing of all three men.

Bail was refused after concerns were raised that the defendant had no address to offer for bail and that he would fail to surrender to the court.

Prosecution Advocate Matthew Maletroit told the court Mr Sevash-Zade had planned to fly to Poland this morning if he had not been apprehended by an arrest warrant.

He said: “It is not known where he would go or settle.

“If he had a stable UK address then circumstances might be different.”

Speaking against remand, Advocate James Corbett said the defendant had never lived in Jersey and his contract meant he spent two weeks at sea and two weeks in Poland.

“He’s been going to and from Poland for years,” he said.

“There’s nothing remotely unusual about him travelling from Poland. He rents a property in Poland and when he’s in the UK he lives on a ship.”

Describing the complexity of the case, Advocate Corbett said collisions at sea could be notoriously difficult to investigate.

He said: “The jurisdiction of the Jersey court has no relevant connection with any individual and that has to be worked out in some detail.”