POLICE have named the man who died at the weekend when the boat he was on sank en route from Guernsey to Jersey. The body of Alvalo Luis Silva Neves, 62, was found by divers on Sunday morning, inside the 5.3-metre Blue Lady as it lay on the seabed off the Demie des Pas lighthouse.

Another man on board the boat as it struck rocks off Corbiere Lighthouse spent an hour swimming ashore to raise the alarm at about 12.50am.

Mr Neves was a Portuguese mechanic who had lived in Jersey for 40 years.

He was not married, but had a long-term partner and a son.

It is believed he had been fishing in St Ouen’s Bay after returning from Guernsey just after 5pm on Saturday.

Jersey’s assistant harbour master Paul Mimmack said he did not yet know exactly where the boat had sunk, but conditions had been good at the time.

‘This is an unusual case – somebody navigating in fine conditions at night-time,’ he said.

But Mr Mimmack added that the search itself had been made easier by good visibility and calm seas.

‘It was quite a big search but relatively straightforward,’ he said. RNLI press officer Jonathan Lee said: ‘The conditions were not bad. The sea was like a mirror out there.’

He described the incident as a tragedy for all involved.

‘A life was lost. That is as bad as it gets,’ he said.

Jersey Police said that Mr Neves had been a mechanic who had not been working recently because of ill health.

A joint police and harbours investigation into the incident is now under way and a report is being compiled for the Deputy Viscount, who will conduct an inquest.