A Jersey resident claims his boat was deliberately rammed by a French trawler as tensions escalated in a fresh row over fishing rights.
Dramatic video shows the collision as a flotilla of about 60 French boats crowded the harbour at St Helier a day after two Royal Navy ships were sent to the Channel island.
In a defiant protest, a member of the Jersey Militia re-enactment group, wearing a replica of the three-cornered hat worn once by soldiers, fired a musket towards the sea as the harbour stand-off dragged on.
Angry French fishermen blocked a freight ferry from leaving, lot flares and waved banners, claiming their rights to fish the waters have been unfairly restricted after Brexit.
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Jersey property developer Jonathan Ruff claims a French trawler deliberately rammed his boat as he went out to face the flotilla to "stick up" for the island and do his "patriotic duty".
Footage online showed two boats colliding in the harbour and witnesses shout "oh" following the sound of the impact.
Mr Ruff told the Sun: "I couldn't believe what he was doing. He deliberately sped up and went straight for me clipping my bow.
''If he had hit my engine I would have been in big, big trouble, I could have lost the boat and anything could have happened."
''They were out of order and if it wasn't for some quick evasive action my boat could have been at the bottom of the Channel."
Mr Ruff, who runs restaurants and wants to open a casino and strip club on the island, accused the French captain of being "totally reckless".
The Brussels-backed French boats arrived at about 5am - "like an invasion", according to one local fisherman - and remained in the harbour until they began to return home at about 1pm.
Their departure followed "positive" talks between Jersey ministers and the organisers of the protest.
At one point during the demonstration, a member of the Jersey Militia re-enactment group shot a blank-firing musket towards the water from Elizabeth Castle.
The sight of dozens of French fishing vessels approaching the British Crown dependency as flares shot up into the sky looked “like an invasion”, said Jersey fisherman Josh Dearing.
The 28-year-old, who owns The Jersey Catch fishing company and is originally from Kent, said the scene was “was quite a sight”.
He added: “There were probably about 60 boats. There were a few hand-held flares and smoke flares going off and apparently a few maybe bangers and stuff going off from the French.
"It was impressive, I looked from the shore this morning and it was just like a sea of red lights and flares already going off at sea. It was like an invasion.”
There had been rumblings about a planned protest a few days ago, Mr Dearing said, but added that he had not been sure if it was “serious or empty threats”.
He said: “The French being the French, they don’t mess around. They can blockade their own harbours – they wouldn’t think twice about coming and doing it to us.”
Mr Dearing was “absolutely” pleased to hear on Wednesday night that Royal Navy vessels were being deployed to patrol the waters around Jersey.
He said: “We’re completely unprotected in Jersey. We’ve got nothing except for a few police officers. We don’t have a police boat, we don’t have a navy boat, we don’t have anything to protect us.
“The French can be hostile. All of our livelihoods are in that harbour and if they wanted to they could cause damage.”
The Royal Navy patrol boats HMS Severn and HMS Tamar were positioned some distance away.
France sent two police boats - Athos and Themis - to patrol the area, but they did not approach the flotilla or the Royal Navy ships.
A spokeswoman for the French maritime authority for the Channel and the North Sea said they were being stationed to be in a position to intervene “as quickly as possible” if the situation worsens.
Jersey’s external relations minister, Ian Gorst, said talks between island ministers and the organisers of the protest were “positive”.
He told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: “It really is important that what has escalated over the course of the last three days, that we move away from that escalation and disproportionate threats, and start to deal with those detailed technical issues."
The row began after Jersey implemented new requirements under the terms of the UK-EU trade deal for boats to submit evidence of their past fishing activities in order to receive a licence to carry on operating in Jersey waters.
French fisherman claim their rights are unfairly restricted.
Mr Gorst said Jersey authorities were “extremely grateful” for the support of the UK Government, while stressing the need to find a diplomatic resolution.
He said Prime Minister Boris Johnson had “reiterated his personal support” over the management of the French protest.
Mr Johnson confirmed the two Royal Navy patrol boats would remain in place as a “precautionary measure”.
Earlier this week French maritime minister Annick Girardin said Paris would cut off electricity to Jersey – which gets 95 per cent of its power supply from France – if the dispute was not resolved.
The EU has complained to Britain that the terms of its post-Brexit trade deal are being ignored in the deepening dispute over fishing rights off Jersey.
