As the search for the missing 11-year-old boy, Teo Bugeja continued yesterday, the weekly open-air market at the tranquil fishing village of Marsaxlokk was void of the fish stalls of the Bugeja, family and their extended family.
The tragedy involving the Simshar is Malta's worst fishing disaster.
The boy is said to have been clinging to his father, Simon Bugeja, 31, the only survivor. They were on board a makeshift raft made of blocks of polystyrene fishermen use to keep long lines afloat until a few hours before the rescue but, at one point, the boy slipped off the raft into the water.
Meanwhile, the corpse discovered at sea late on Saturday evening was confirmed as that of Somali national Abdulrahman Abdala Gedi, 21, who perished along with three other Maltese crew members following an explosion on board the Simshar.
Mr Bugeja held on to dear life for eight days as he saw the others die. He is still in intensive care after he suffered burns and was yesterday visited by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino.
Mr Bugeja's father, Karmenu, 61, and Noel Carabott, 33, died in the incident.
The Emigrants' Commission said Mr Gedi was married to Layla, who lives in Kenya, along with his mother and three of his siblings. After spending six months in jail, he arrived here and was granted refugee status. His father was murdered in 2002.
The commission said his brother had given permission for Mr Gedi to be buried in Malta.
In Marsaxlokk yesterday, the silence was broken only by tourists walking along the shoreline in the scorching heat and the occasional shouting of the fish hawkers selling calamari.
Very few Marsaxlokk residents were around and those who were wore a shocked look on their face. They still cannot believe what happened. The last tragedy that hit the fishing village occurred more than 40 years ago.
Very conspicuous were the empty spaces usually occupied by the fishing stalls set up by the Bugeja family. Still visibly shocked, Marsaxlokk mayor Stephen Caruana said: "This is a big tragedy that will take Marsaxlokk people a long time to forget. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Bugeja and Carabott families at this difficult time".
The mayor praised the fishermen who joined the search for their missing colleagues. In fact, there were 20 fishing boats with a total of about 60 crew out at sea assisting in the search yesterday.
Mr Bugeja told rescuers that, on the day of the accident, he heard a strange noise in the engine room and went down to investigate. A powerful explosion ensued and he found himself in the water.
The men tried to open a life raft but were unsuccessful and instead made a raft out of polystyrene floats. Mr Bugeja said that, last Thursday, a helicopter flew close to him and his son but kept on flying.
Speaking to The Times at the market yesterday, the secretary of the Għaqda Kooperattiva tas-Sajd, Paul Piscopo criticised the Armed Forces of Malta for conducting the search operation from the air leaving out patrol boats.
This was the fourth time fishing boats rather than the AFM found missing vessels. Four years ago, it was the trawler Ave Marija to find a missing boat. Last winter, the trawler Lorenzo Madre went missing and the fishing boat owners organised a search party. The last time such a practice was carried out was earlier this summer when another vessel with amateurs on board went missing and were found and rescued by fishermen.
"Among us fishermen, the AFM is referred to as the undertaker or the taxi driver because we spot the missing boats and we call them to come collect them," Mr Piscopo said.
The AFM had asked the fishermen not to go out in search parties but the request was ignored. "Thank God we did this," he said with hindsight.
Reacting to the criticism, the AFM gave a detailed account of their efforts to locate the fishing boat.
It started off with an attempt to contact the vessel by VHF radio and satellite-telephone but, as attempts to contact the Simshar were fruitless, the AFM Islander aircraft conducted a number of searches throughout Sunday, covering about 3,900 square nautical miles.
Italian Air Force AB212 helicopters from the Italian Military Mission in Malta, a Tunisian search-helicopter and a Sigonella-based Italian Navy Atlantique and US Navy 6th Fleet P3-Orion aircraft joined the search on Sunday and the following days.
The AFM denied claims that it had restrained search efforts by the fishing vessels, adding that it had supplied them with detailed marine information.