A leading fishing industry company has denied intentionally ramming a private vessel that was near its fish farms in St Paul’s Bay, sending two people into the sea and their belongings to the seabed.

Charles Azzopardi, the owner of Azzopardi Fisheries, denied the allegations and “insisted it capsized because it was caught in the wake of the fishing trawler”.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Azzopardi said the private vessel was tied to his company’s fish cages, which is a restricted area under Transport Malta regulations.

Following the capsizing, he said that Azzopardi Fisheries offered assistance to the two youths and even helped them retrieve their lost belongings.

“We helped them and sent divers to recover their wallets and other items. We have it all on video,” Azzopardi said.

Azzopardi went on to stress that “there is a difference between fishing as work and as a hobby,” lamenting that his company had to deal with regular thefts of his fish stock.

“There are a lot of cases of people stealing fish from us,” he added. “I look at him and see my son, he’s 21. I gave him the photo of the capsized boat. If I didn’t want to help him, I wouldn’t have done this but we have to work.”

Lovin Malta reached out to Azzopardi Fisheries but has received no response.

Azzopardi reacted after Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur, the keyboardist for pop rock group Red Electrick, shared a shocking story where he claimed that his friend’s boat had ended up damaged and overturned after his very first trip out to fish.

Spiteri Monsigneur said that after the trawler had collided with them, the captain shouted “it’s your fault!”

“Throwing us into the sea, the captain’s reaction was far from apologetic: “Tort tagħkom”, he said, “terġgħux tiġu hawn!”, before heading straight on and continuing whatever he was planning to do, as if nothing had happened.”

https://www.facebook.com/alemonsigneur/posts/4012893612172090

What do you make of this incident on the seas?