THREE fishermen found themselves “trapped” on the deck of a modified boat that had been overloaded to the point of “instability” with catch and fishing equipment, an inquest heard.
Three inquests, which took place simultaneously into the deaths of Carl McGrath, 34, Ross Ballantine, 39, and Alan Minard, 20, heard that no distress signal had been sent or received due to the 30ft whelk potter capsizing “very quickly” and there being “limited room to escape.”
Skipper Mr McGrath, of Castle street in Conwy, and crew members Mr Ballantine and Mr Minard, of Lancaster Square, Conwy, and Marine Crescent, Penmaenmawr, died after setting off on the Nicola Faith on January 27, 2021, from the port of Conwy.
Their bodies were discovered in March 2021 off West Kirby, Blackpool and the Wirral. The boat was located off Rhos-on-Sea the following month.
An investigation of the vessel, by the Marine Accident Investigation branch (MAIB), revealed that the “combined weight” on the deck reduced the stability of the vessel to the point that it was “unsafe”.
“Just a small movement was enough to initiate a capsize,” Captain Jae Jones, Principal Inspector of MAIB, told the hearing at County Hall in Ruthin today (July 14).
The Nicola Faith was said to be carrying 4.6 tonnes of fishing gear and catch on deck when it capsized at about 6pm.
“If the skipper had restricted [his loading] to 1,000kg, the Nicola Faith could have been operated safely in calm seas,” Captain Jones said.
On the day of the Nicola Faith capsized, Mr Ballantine and Mr Minard were working for Mr McGrath as crew members.
Captain Jones said: “The vessel set sail in the morning. They sailed from the port of Conwy to fishing grounds that were around off the North Wales coast, in the bay around the Great Orme head."
At 2pm, Mr McGrath had sent a message to his whelk buyer that he had 20 bags of whelks on board. Each bag weighed 38kg on average.
“Whelks were collected up to the point of time when the vessel capsized," Captain Jones said.
“We found several hundreds of pots attached to the vessel when it was located.
“We know the vessel was engaged in processing the catch [at the time the vessel capsized], which would mean, probably, that all three crew members were on the deck at the time.
“Because no distress [signal] was sent, the assumption was made that they were on the deck and were trapped.
“The combined weight on the deck of the vessel, and stowed high, reduced the amount of stability to the point it was unsafe that just a small movement was enough to initiate a capsize.”
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The Nicola Faith was equipped with flares, none of which had been activated.
The flares had a December 2020 expiry date, but it was heard it was likely they were still functional.
Life jackets were found on board but no Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) had been fitted to the vessel or was registered.
Captain Jones said: “An EPIRB is an externally mounted and float free arrangement. If a vessel capsized, it would automatically release for the vessel, go to the surface and then send a signal to the receiving centre in Falmouth [in the UK] almost instantaneously.”
It was heard that the beacon would have alerted the coastguard who would have notified the RNLI.
Coroner David Lewis, one of the assistant coroners for North Wales, East and Central, asked what difference having the beacon would have made.
Captain Jones replied: "The RNLI have an astonishing record to how they respond to accident and as this was relatively close to the RNLI station.
“It would have been very quick.
“15 to 20 minutes.”
David Edmunds, marine surveyor with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), told the inquest he had met Mr McGrath on three occasions; when he took over the ownership of the Nicola Faith in 2017 and in May 2019 and December 11 2020 after the vessel suffered engine breakdowns. On each occasion, he carried out inspections.
Mr Edmunds said Mr McGrath had voiced his intention to carry out design changes to the boat.
“We knew that modification was pending [in 2017] but it wasn’t in place at the time," Mr Edmunds said.
At the time of inspection, fishing vessels under 15-metres in length were not subject to survey and only to inspection.
In 2019, the regulations were amended to vessels more than 12 metres of above.
When Mr Edmunds inspected the vessel in 2019, the 'cat catcher' platform at the rear of the boat was in place.
Further modifications took place in 2019 such as the addition of concrete ballast to the fish hold and engine room.
During compliance inspections, Mr Edmunds said the vessel had been presented in "very good order".
“There were no indications of poor operation, overloading,” he said.
“Nothing raised an alarm.
“He was very good, well mannered. There was nothing to indicate to us that there were issues outside what we saw on the day.”
The Nicola Faith had experienced at least two near capsizes prior to January 27, 2021.
“We did not know about any of it at all (the near capsizes) until after,” Mr Edmunds confirmed.
The jury returned narrative conclusions stating that the men drowned following a capsize which was due to instability caused by a combination of modifications and the weight and distribution of the catch and equipment.
The cause of death was recorded as immersion or drowning.
Mr Lewis said although there had been changes to the regulations in relation to the inspection regime for fishing vessels, which he drew "some reassurances from", he was not "satisfied" that the current regulations "necessarily sets the threshold in place when there should be a formal stability assessment."
He said he would consider whether further improvements were needed.
Mr Minard's mother told the inquest: "Alan was 20 and like all 20-year-olds he was trying to find his place in the world.
"He didn't sit still from the minute he was born.
"He'd chase any adventure and gave anything a go.
"He gave us grey hairs, but he made our world a better place."
Mr Ballantine's family said: "He was a doting and loving father. The life and soul of the party with many friends.
"He was always the protector and protector of his siblings and family.
"He loved the outdoors and being in the sea and nature – it suited him well. He was never an office 9 to 5 type of guy.
"These are times we can never get back, huge milestones which we will never get back."
Mr Lewis said: "Tragically three lives were lost, and many lives have been changed."
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