The crewman lost overboard from 38-metre Belgian beam trawler Jerki Z-45 late on Saturday has been identified as 50-year old Glenn Vandewalle.
The circumstances of the incident are unclear and the West Flanders public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation. The fact that have been released are that a man overboard incident took place and the RNLI participated in a search operation under difficult conditions. The individual was located, but had succumbed to hypothermia.
Z-45 had been fishing in the English Channel, south of Eastbourne, and is now back in Oostende.
‘An external inquiry will be carried out, but everything points to a tragic accident,’ an official spokesperson commented.
The trawler’s operators stated that ‘out of respect for the family and our crew, we want to let them process this tragic accident in peace. We can only stress that Glenn was a well-liked and experienced fisherman, a fisherman through and through. He will be greatly missed.’
