The investigation continues for "aggravated manslaughter".
The bodies of the two brothers who disappeared during the sinking of a fishing boat off Agde (Hérault) on the night of November 29 to 30 were found on Thursday.
"The means implemented during the day by the French Navy and the maritime gendarmerie made it possible to find and bring to the surface the bodies of the two missing brothers", indicates in a press release the public prosecutor of Béziers, Raphaël Balland, specifying that an autopsy would be performed on Monday.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, the fishing vessel "Romain Luca" sank with three men on board, the alert being triggered shortly after midnight.
The captain of the vessel, a 61-year-old man, a professional fisherman since 1978, had been rescued and hospitalized with hypothermia.
Two passengers maximum
He had indicated to the rescue services that two other men were also on board at the time of the sinking, two Agathois brothers aged 33 and 23.
"The oldest is a declared seaman while the second is only registered for the January 2021 session to follow a seaman's training", specifies the prosecutor of Béziers.
The vessel's navigation license set a navigation limit of 5 nautical miles from the sheltered waters of the port of departure, a maximum number of two people on board and a maximum authorized load of 3,500 kg, crew and fuel included, underlines Raphaël Balland.
Already verbalized
The captain of the ship had already been fined by the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea of Hérault, in particular in January 2020, with the same crew on board.
This first offense led to the opening of a preliminary investigation by the Béziers prosecutor's office entrusted to the Agde police station, still in progress, for covert work and operation of a ship without respecting the conditions of the navigation license.
On November 30, the Béziers prosecutor's office had also opened an investigation for "worrying disappearances", entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie group of Marseille.
This is now reclassified as counts of “manslaughter aggravated by the manifestly deliberate violation of a rule of prudence or safety provided for by law or regulation, and of illegal work by concealment of employees”.