The family of a man whose body washed up on a Wirral beach said they want to ‘create a lasting legacy’ for him.
A year ago today, three fishermen set off on the Nicola Faith boat to fish the seas off Colwyn Bay.
Setting off from Conwy Harbour at around 10am on January 27, 2021, they were expected to arrive back at the port around midnight.
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However, when the boat carrying the three did not return, alarm bells began to ring and by Thursday a major search was launched on involving lifeboats and aircraft.
The last known contact with the men was said to have been at around 9:30pm on the night of their disappearance, when they reported they were heading towards the Rhyl Flats offshore wind farm.
The initial two-day search returned no trace of either the boat or the three men and was subsequently stood down on the Friday as a result.
Following this, the three families continued to fight for their boys and in a desperate bid to find them, they launched a fundraiser to help them subsidise the cost of a private search.
Raising well over their £75,000 target, the private search led by ocean recovery expert David Mearns, who discovered the wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala, began on March 20.
Unbeknown to the search however, three bodies had already been discovered across England a week before, though no formal identification had been made from the post mortem examinations at that point.
A life raft was also discovered off the coast of Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland on March 5 and was positively identified as belonging to the Nicola Faith.
Around three months after the disappearance of the Nicola Faith and just days after the private search began, the bodies of Carl McGrath, 34, Ross Ballantine, 39, and 20-year-old Alan Minard were formally identified, causing their families and loved ones unimaginable grief.
The body of 39-year-old Ross Ballantine, of Conwy, was found on March 12, on West Kirby beach.
The day after on March 13, the body of Carl McGrath, of Conwy, was discovered at the South Promenade in Blackpool.
And on March 14, the body of Alan Minard, of Penmaenmawr, was found at The Groyne on Meols Promenade, Wirral.
The wreck of the Nicola Faith was finally found on the seabed in April, just 177 metres from its last known position and in May it was removed before being transported back to land by barge and lifted onto land at Dickies Boatyard, Bangor where family gathered to watch.
Today, on the year anniversary since the three men left the Conwy Harbour, the three families have revealed the pain they have lived with for the last 12 months and have pledged to work with the RNLI to prevent other families suffering.
They recently attended a "man-overboard recovery and life jacket training" session, as well as a number of other related workshops, at the RNLI's their purpose-built college in Poole.
Speaking to RNLI, Ross's sister Lowri Taylor said: “One year on, we’re wanting to create a lasting legacy to the boys and use our experience to share our story and hopefully save more lives.
“It’s too early to say what measures may have prevented this dreadful incident, but anything which improves safety and gives fishermen a better chance has got to be a good thing.
“We don’t want any other family to suffer in the way we have all done and feel by supporting the RNLI and speaking about our experience, we can make a difference.
“It was so very emotional for us to be there and see the fishermen who worked alongside our loved ones.
“We are however grateful for the experience of meeting face to face with them and helping them to understand the impact of what is left behind.
“We are thrilled that the RNLI is using our words on future courses and hope our story helps change their attitudes to safety."
Lowri said the courses provided by RNLI 'really helped' the families see the 'excellent work' that is being undertaken to improve safety and they have since pledged to work alongside the RNLI.
The families of Ross, Carl and Alan have raised thousands of pounds for the crews after lifeboats spent more than 90 hours at sea searching for the men and have also gifted them with the spare funds that were made from last year's initial fundraiser which was launched to help fund the private search for the three fishermen.
All three families are now exploring a variety of options and working with the RNLI to decide how they want the money to be spent to provide a lasting legacy to their loved ones.
The RNLI said the support and fundraising from the families is 'very much appreciated'.
Frankie Horne, RNLI Fishing Safety Manager said: "The family has shown such compassion and strength in wanting to use their tragic experience to prevent more lives being lost.
“We are looking forward to continuing our relationship with the families and helping educate about the various projects running to improve commercial fishing safety.
"As a charity, having this investment from them is obviously vital and so very much appreciated."
