The Dutch lifting barge Cormorant is to help in the operation

Five fishermen died when the boat sank in January, and the vessel is now lying in deep water 19 miles off the Lizard.

French authorities believe it may have been rammed and hope raising the vessel will reveal vital clues.

French prosecutor Roland Esch said in a statement that the operation had been held up on Tuesday because of the weather and the swell off the Lizard.

More equipment for the recovery operation has arrived at Falmouth docks.

The salvage plan involves towing the wreck of the Bugaled Breizh into calmer waters, possibly the Fal estuary.

The vessel is now lying in deep water 19 miles off the Lizard

The Dutch lifting barge Cormorant would then transfer the wreck onto another barge which would be towed back to the French port of Brest.

The recovery operation comes after a campaign by relatives of the dead crewmen and the French press.

It was initially thought bad weather was to blame when the fishing boat went down about 19 miles off the Lizard on 15 January.

But a French prosecutor claims photographs taken of the vessel on the seabed suggest it may have been involved in a "violent" collision with a container ship.