We have no idea when we will get to go home
Trawlerman says boat may be stuck in France for a week
A fisherman on the trawler caught up in the post-Brexit row last night told the Sunday Mail he had “no idea” when he was coming home.
The man, from Ayr, who asked not to be identified, was allowed off the boat to visit Le Havre.
He said: “We have no idea when we’re leaving.
“We’ll probably be here all next week too.
“We ’ ve not ha d any communication about when we’re leaving – we haven’t got a clue.”
Asked what they were doing to pass the time while being impounded, he said “walking around”. His angry skipper said he hoped they would be home “sooner rather than later.”
He was speaking after leaving the boat for yet another ser ies of meetings with his lawyers and the French authorities.
But the Cornelis Gert Jan has still been banned from departing the port of Le Havre and returning to Britain in the dispute over post-Brexit fishing rules in the Channel.
British Embassy off icials remained in the seaside port in Normandy to provide assistance to the crew, who have now been held a ga ins t the ir w i l l for three days.
Port police patrolled the dockside but there were no signs of any protests against the British vessel from angry French fishermen.
The French authorities insist the boat was f ishing illegally and have charged the captain, who has still not been named, and ordered him to appear in court next
August. And it’s feared the dispute could get worse next week, with the French threatening to ban British boats from landing their catch in French ports.
They are also planning new stringent customs checks on some British goods.
They claim the retaliation is in response to Britain breaking the agreed rules on issuing the cor rect number of permits to French boats.
The skipper will face a trial and a potential £ 63,000 fine.