Search for missing fishermen continues in Irish Sea
The crew of the Nicola Faith, missing since Wednesday night, have been named as Alan Minard, Ross Ballantine and skipper, Carl McGrath.
A major search involving coastguard and RNLI teams is underway in the Irish Sea for three missing fishermen, reports the BBC. The men were aboard 10m vessel, the Nicola Faith, which failed to return to her home port on Wednesday.
Rescue teams said the vessel was last seen at 22:00 on Wednesday off Rhos-on-Sea, east of Conwy and Llandudno in Liverpool Bay. The search was suspended on Thursday night but resumed early this morning.
Relatives of Mr McGrath, Mr Minard, and Mr Ballantyne, who are all from Conwy, are holding a vigil at Llandudno’s RNLI station. Coastguard teams from Bangor, Llandudno, Flint and Rhyl are assisting RNLI lifeboats from Rhyl, Llandudno, and Hoylake.
Mr Minard’s family said the boat was lifting lobster pots and hope that she has merely drifted out of the search area due to mechanical problems.
A coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon and a fixed-wing aircraft are also taking part in the search. Ryhl RNLI volunteer Paul Frost said the search operation was covering a huge area and added: “It is literally hundreds of square miles, the area searched is something like 30 miles across by about 15 miles out as well… That’s why so many resources have been utilised to try and search the area adequately.”
