Daughter of Englishman who died in storm: ‘He loved the sea and now he’ll be part of it forever’

John Perkins, 77, is the man identified as having died in a storm when his yacht in Marsaxlokk Bay was wrecked on the coast.

Described by his daughter as a “friend to many”, Perkins lost his life after his yacht cut its moorings and was smashed against the shore in gale force winds on Thursday.

His lifeless body was found off Delimara on Friday morning by an Armed Forces patrol boat.

In a tribute to her late father, Emma Walker took to Facebook to share the sad news of his passing in tragic circumstances. “He loved the sea and now he will be part of it forever. We'd like to thank you all for being part of his journey,” she said.

Walker said “he was a friend to many, a good dad, grandad, great grandad and a brother to us all”.

The police confirmed the identity of the man on Friday afternoon.

Earlier, the police said that at around 7pm on Thursday they were informed that the yacht had cut its moorings and was crashing against the shore at Marsaxlokk due to strong waves. The police found no one inside the wreckage but suspected that the man was on the vessel at the time of the accident.

Magistrate Leonard Caruana is holding an inquiry and a police investigation is ongoing.