Hundreds attend vigil for fishermen in Newhaven – in pictures

They gathered for a two-minute silence at Newhaven lifeboat station on Wednesday night (November 25), which had joined the search for the men who were onboard the Joanna C fishing vessel that capsized at 6am on Saturday (November 21). The body of Adam Harper, 26, of Brixham, Devon, was tragically discovered by divers in the wreckage on Monday night – while Robert Morley, 38, of Pembrokeshire, is still missing. Dave Bickerstaff, was rescued on Saturday, He was found clinging to a lifebuoy wearing only a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. The BBC reports Rev Martin Miller, from St Michael’s Church in Newhaven, said Mr Morley’s parents, who joined the vigil, wanted to ‘say a big thank you to [Mr Bickerstaff] for his heroic efforts to do what he could to save them’. The BBC said he led a round of applause for the emergency services and fellow fishermen who ‘without any thought for themselves searched on massively long shifts’. Alex, a fisherman who had worked with the pair, told the crowd he would ‘never ever forget’ the time he had spent at sea with them. He added: “We all know what we do, we know the risks, but we still love it and we still do it. If Rob and Adam were still here they’d be saying the same. They will live on forever in all of us.” Newhaven RNLI crews joined the vigil and a nearby lookout tower was floodlit to respect the lost fishermen, one of whom disliked the dark, the National Coast Watch Institution said.