A privately funded search for the missing boat ‘Nicola Faith’ has begun today. The boat was last seen on the 27th of January fishing near Rhos on Sea.
The boat was carrying a crew of 3 men, Alan Minard, Carl McGrath and Ross Ballantine at the time of her disappearance. The initial search to find the boat and her crew was called off after two days.
Nicola Faith’s life raft was discovered by the coast guard 90 nautical Miles away from Rhos on Sea, in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland earlier this month, the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch (MAIB) reported. The raft will be taken by the MAIB to Southampton for further investigation and analysis. Underwater Search experts have been working with MAIB, in searching for the missing boat and crew.
The bodies of 3 men have been recovered on the North-West coast of England, and North Wales police have said that they are aware that the bodies have been discovered and are in contact with Merseyside and Lancashire police. The bodies have not been confirmed as the missing men yet, but the families have been informed and post-mortem examinations are currently taking place.
The ordeal has had an enormous impact on the families of the missing victims. The community of the families has been coming together to support them over the last two months.
THE SEARCH
£68,515 has currently been raised out of a goal of £77,000 on the funding page ‘Just Giving’, which was set up by the families, to fund the private search. A link to the page can be accessed here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/findthenicolafaith.
A survey boat operated by SEP Hydrographic, called ‘Pulsar’ started from Conwy marina just after 6am this morning. The crew of the Pulsar will include deep water recovery expert, David Mearns, who was the expert brought in to help with the disappearance of Emiliano Sala, after the plane that was carrying him went missing in the English channel in January 2019. David Mearns has been giving his time for free to help the families of the crew on the fishing boat.
The mother of one of one of the crew that sadly went missing on teh Nicola Faith, Nathania Minard, said that all she wanted was ‘closure’ and to know exactly what had happened to her son on that night. She was present to see Pulsar leaving port this morning, and wished David Mearns and the search team all the best.
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