The bodies of two fishermen from Brighton who were missing at sea have been recovered today (Monday 14 August).
Sussex Police said: “Two bodies recovered from the sea off Shoreham have been identified as those of the two men missing since Sunday 6 August.
“The first was reported to HM Coastguard by a fisherman around two and a half miles off Shoreham Harbour around 7am.
“The RNLI Shoreham lifeboat was launched to recover the body and as they were returning to shore, a second body was spotted in the water just before 8am.
“Both bodies were landed at Brighton Marina where they were handed to the coroner’s officer and, following notification to their families, they have now been formally identified.
“They are Mircea Ilie, 40, of Elm Grove, Brighton, and Irinel Popovici, 41, of Barcombe Road, Brighton.
“Police and marine accident investigators have named the boat believed to have collided with the boat that the men were fishing from off Shoreham in the early hours of Sunday 6 August.
“The vessel, the scallop dredging boat, Vertrouwen, left Shoreham around the time of the incident bound for Grimsby.
“Police are in touch with the owners, MacDuff Shellfish Ltd, who are co-operating fully with the investigation.
“A small boat had left Shoreham Harbour around midnight with four pleasure fisherman on board.
“It is now known that the collision occurred around 12.30am and the boat was lost without raising a distress call.
“One man was rescued by commercial fisherman after clinging to a buoy for more than five hours and another man’s body was recovered by a coastguard helicopter later that morning.”
Last week Sussex Police said that the first of the three bodies to be found was 50-year-old Traiam Dumitrache, a Romanian national from London.
The only survivor was Elvis Cojocariu, a fellow Romanian from London.
- A body was also recovered on Friday (11 August), with the Shoreham lifeboat bringing it ashore at Brighton Marina.
Sussex Police said: “Police believe they know the identity of a man whose body was found near the Rampion offshore wind farm on Friday.
“HM Coastguard were alerted on Friday morning when the crew of a boat in the area spotted the man floating in the water.
“The RNLI Shoreham lifeboat was launched to retrieve the body which was returned to shore at Brighton Marina just after 9am.
“The man has not been formally identified at this time.”
No one involved in working on the wind farm has been reported missing.
