Nicola Faith fishermen drowned due to overloaded boat - inquest

Carl McGrath, Ross Ballantine and Alan Minard died after their overloaded fishing boat sank

A fishing boat that sank off north Wales was so overloaded that a crew member walking across the deck could have capsized it, an inquest has heard.

The hearing in Ruthin was told the three crew members on the Nicola Faith died when their boat sank during calm weather on 27 January 2021.

A jury decided Ross Ballantine, 39, Alan Minard, 20, and skipper Carl McGrath, 34, all drowned.

A coroner gave a narrative conclusion into the men's deaths.

A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) last year found the boat was so unstable and heavily loaded a capsize was "almost inevitable".

It found the boat had been modified and had 4.6 tonnes of whelks and whelk pots on board.

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Captain Jae Jones of the MAIB told the inquest these modifications were not enough to make it unsafe, but it was the "volume of catch on board and the way the whelks were stored" that was the problem.

"There was a fish hold in the bottom of the boat, but it was never used for storing the catch. If the whelks had been stored lower down, it would have made the vessel more stable."

The Nicola Faith had been modified but these were not approved, according to an MAIB report

He said the estimated weight of the catch and fishing pots onboard meant the vessel was ready to overturn with even the slightest movement.

"An action as simple as one of the crew walking across the deck could have led to a capsize," he added.

The Nicola Faith left her home port of Conwy at 10:00, heading for fishing grounds off the coast near Rhos on Sea.

Investigators found she sank at about 18:00, but the alarm was not raised until the following morning.

The inquest was told safety and inspection standards have improved since the accident.

Whelk pots from the boat were recovered from the seabed

But assistant coroner David Lewis told the hearing he would be looking at whether further improvements were needed.

"Three lives were lost and many others were changed - children have been left without a father and others have been left without loved ones," he said.

"I draw some reassurance that regulations have already changed, but I am not completely satisfied with the current regime."

The coroner's narrative conclusion stated that the three men drowned when their boat capsized due to a combination of modifications, the weight and distribution of the catch, and the affect of both on the stability of the vessel.

Mr Minard's mother told the inquest: "He was like all 20-year-olds, trying to find a place in the world, and would choose any adventure. He made our world a better place, and now he's gone."

Family members of Mr Ballantine said: "He was a doting, loving father to two young sons who took the job on the Nicola Faith to be closer to his children.

"But now there will be times in the future, milestones when he won't be there."