Divers struggle for clues

Four fishermen died when the Chelaris J went down off Alderney

Investigators are still trying to piece together the reasons why the Guernsey-registered trawler, Chelaris J sank off Alderney.

Divers battled with difficult conditions over the wreck site on Tuesday, but strong tides mean they will not be able to re-visit the scene for another 10 days.

The wreck is lying in about 40 metres of water on the Schole Bank after it sank on 1 October.

Guernsey skipper Martyn Lane, 24, died along with Pierre Duflot, 50, Yvan Regnier, 30, and 16-year-old apprentice Romain Ouitre.

Guernsey's Harbourmaster, Captain Robert Barton, said despite the adverse weather, a lot of important information was gathered.

Shallow reef

He said: "Unfortunately the tidal stream was stronger than we expected and diving conditions were difficult.

"There are strong tides over a shallow reef which makes it quite a dangerous place to dive.

"We got the Remote Operating Vehicle into the wreck to analyse pictures.

"But there's no question of us being able to come up with any hard facts and reasons for the sinking at this stage."