Sicilian fishermen were not involved in the boating tragedy which left three men dead and a boy missing, according to Fisheries Cooperative president Ray Bugeja, but he confirmed that a heated argument had taken place in mid-June.

Mr Bugeja said the owners of the Simshar had a heated exchange with Sicilian purse seiners, but he had heard nothing to suggest that 61-year-old Carmelo Bugeja had fired shots.

"They (the Sicilians) threw their net over the fishing line of the Simshar and stole an expensive signal transmitter. There was a fight... Carmelo was an edgy person and he lost his temper quickly," Mr Bugeja said.

However, he said he was sure that by June 18 all the Italian vessels were back in Salerno and they were not in the vicinity when the Simshar went down.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the fisheries president stands by Simshar captain Simon Bugeja's version of events, who maintains that the boat sank after it was engulfed by fire on July 10.

Simon Bugeja was the sole survivor, clinging to a makeshift raft for eight days, before he was spotted by the Grecale fishing vessel. However, his 11-year-old son Theo has not been seen since he slipped from his father's grasp just hours before the rescue.

The funerals of the other crew members - Simon Bugeja's father Carmelo, Noel Carabott, 33, and Somali national Abdulrahman Abdala Gedi, 21 - were held last week.

While confirming that the Simshar was probably fishing illegally, Mr Bugeja insisted there were no explosives on board.

Asked whether the army suspected any wrongdoing, AFM commander Carmel Vassallo said: "Whether there was a fire, or an explosion, or a fire which lasted for six hours, we found nothing... We only found two jackets and a shoe which don't belong to any of those on board.

"Since the army didn't find anything which was clearly theirs (the occupants of the Simshar) you keep asking yourself - was the boat sucked in by the sea, was it hit by a large vessel, did it explode?"

Brig. Vassallo said Simon Bugeja would have to recover fully for the authorities to establish exactly what caused the incident. He was discharged from hospital yesterday after undergoing medical treatment for his injuries.

The AFM chief appealed to fishermen to recognise the importance of installing systems like a Vessel Monitoring System since they could prove to be their only means of survival.

"If they don't want to show their whereabouts, what's wrong in giving your position after 12 hours? It's in their interest for us to know if anything crops up?"

The fishermen initially blamed the AFM for failing to find any survivors, until it was established that the last automatic signal from the Simshar had been sent when the vessel was still in Marsaxlokk.

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