French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised on Friday that France would use its coming presidency of the European Union to put pressure on Malta to solve the Klein Familie case.

President Sarkozy was visiting Cherbourg.

Just before he boarded the plane back to Paris, he met families of the four fishermen who drowned after their fishing boat, Klein Familie, sank in January 2006. Their bodies were never found. Malta-flagged ship Sichem Pandora has been suspected of being the cause of the sinking but the ship’s owners hotly contest the charge.

President Sarkozy, who met the families of the bereaved in the presence of some French MPs, announced that France would use its coming presidency of the EU to insist with the Maltese authorities on the need to hurry up the legal procedures.

He also announced that compensation for the families would be speeded up through proceedings in Dunkirk.

The Kleine Familie sank on 5 January 2006. Five crewmembers went missing and one was rescued.

French authorities later announced that paint found on the hull of chemical tanker Sichem Pandora was that of the French trawler.

The Sichem Pandora was on its way from Tunisia to The Netherlands with 15 crewmembers on board when it was escorted to Dunkirk by French Maritime Police and impounded.

The captain and crew of the Sichem Pandora told French police that they were unaware of a collision with another vessel and heard no distress signal.

The 50ft-fishing trawler, which was found on the seabed near the Casquets reef, came from the port of Cherbourg.

BEAmer, the French marine accident authority, is leading the investigation into the sinking.

The Maltese shipping authority, which has jurisdiction over the area, has also launched an investigation into the five missing fishermen.

The president of the Lower Normandy Fisherman’s Association said the Kleine Familie was a good boat, and the skipper had been sailing for about 25 years.

He said it was a catastrophe for the port of Cherbourg, where the trawler came from.