A spokesperson for North Wales Police has said today (15.03.2021) that the force was aware that the bodies of three men had been recovered from the coastline off Blackpool and also The Wirral over this weekend.
This appears to be the heart-breaking conclusion of a truly tragic event. It was on January 27th, 2021 that a widespread search was launched when the Nicola Faith failed to return to Conwy, North Wales, but this search was stood down after two days when nothing was found.
Three men, Carl McGrath, 34, Ross Ballantine 39, and Alan Minard, 20, were on board the Nicola Faith when it left Conwy, North Wales, on that January morning.
Earlier this month, the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch (MAIB) said the boat’s life raft had been found off the coast of Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland by the Coastguard.
The North Wales police spokesperson said that the families of the three fishermen have been informed, saying: ‘We have been in contact with colleagues from both Merseyside and Lancashire Police, and we await the outcome of the Home Office post-mortem examinations. The families of the missing crew members from the vessel Nicola Faith have been kept informed, and continue to be supported by specialist officers.’
More than £55,000 has been raised on a JustGiving page set up by the families of the missing men to pay for a private search, led by deep water recovery expert David Mearns
