Nicola Faith: Missing boat 'could have been found earlier'

The Nicola Faith fishing boat went missing on 27 January

The wreck of a north Wales boat missing for more than two months was found just 177m away from its last known position, a marine search expert has said.

The Nicola Faith failed to return to Conwy on 27 January, and the bodies of her three crew were later found at sea.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch confirmed the ship's identity on Tuesday after it was spotted last week.

David Mearns said there was "no reason" why the boat should not have been found sooner given its location.

The bodies of crew members Alan Minard, 20, Ross Ballantine, 39, and skipper Carl McGrath, 34, were all found in March.

Mr Mearns was leading a private search for the boat, although it was ultimately found by the MAIB, in shallow waters less than two miles off the coast of Colwyn Bay, he said.

The bodies of Alan Minard, Ross Ballantine and Carl McGrath were discovered last month

Mr Mearns told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast: "The wreck was located only 177 metres away from the last known position of the vessel.

"So it was where the signal was lost, it was where everyone should have known where the wreck was from the beginning.

"So, in the final conclusion, yes, there is no reason why it shouldn't have been found sooner."

He said the the search had been done in a number of stages.

"The MAIB actually found the wreck last week, and so I went out and did a high-resolution sonar of the wreck, which provided the best images that we have so far of the wreck.

"These are images both of the hull, and also of things that are floating above it," he said.

"This allowed us to compare things like the dimensions of the ship, and pick out key features which are distinctive to the Nicola Faith - the tall mast and the platform on the stern - that helped identify it as the Nicola Faith."

'No obvious damage'

He added the MAIB and North Wales Police divers had visually confirmed it as the wreck.

"The hull appears intact, we can see the whole starboard side, and from the sonar images, the wreck appears intact, and all the key features are there," Mr Mearns said.

"At one time, people were concerned that it may have capsized, so the radar mast would have been damaged, but those are intact.

"I can see no obvious damage, as it looks OK - which just raises more questions - about why it sank, in not very shallow water, and not so far off the coast."

On Tuesday, Andrew Moll, chief executive of the MAIB, said: "A large amount of evidence has already been collected and analysed, and a close look at the results of today's dive survey should increase our understanding of the accident."