A ferry crew member whose body was found off the Welsh coast "probably drowned", an inquest has heard.
The body of Radoslaw Szwarc from Gdynia, Poland, was found near Ynys Y Fydlyn, Anglesey, on October 7, 2020. But how he came to be in the water still remains unknown.
The 44-year-old electrician had been reported missing by his colleagues on board the WB Yeats – an Irish Ferries vessel sailing between Dublin Port and Holyhead on October 5, NorthWalesLive reported.
An inquest into his death, held in Caernarfon on Wednesday, heard how Mr Szwarc was last seen on board the ship by his colleagues between 3.30pm and 5.30pm that day but failed to report for duty at 7pm. His disappearance was reported to the ship's captain, Simon Maple, who contacted the police.
An extensive search operation involved Porthdinllaen RNLI lifeboat, Holyhead RNLI all-weather lifeboat and inshore lifeboat, Moelfre RNLI lifeboat, HM Coastguard's fixed-wing aircraft and the rescue helicopter from the Irish Coastguard as well as North Wales Police for port and vessel searches. Mr Szwarc's body was found washed up on the Anglesey shore two days after he disappeared.
During the inquest a statement was read out by a fellow crew member who said that Mr Szwarc hadn't been sleeping properly in the lead-up to his death having been working the nightshift, citing "ship vibrations" and "home problems" as the reason.
Addressing medical evidence assistant coroner Katie Sutherland said: "A post-mortem was carried out by Dr Marc Atkinson who said that there was no evidence of trauma to the body. His skull showed no evidence of a fracture and there was no ethanol or any drugs detected in his system.
"There is no good anatomical explanation for his death and he probably died as a result of drowning.
"Mr Szwarc had been struggling with low mood but there is no evidence to show that this had been a long-standing problem.
"We have no evidence that he had any intention of death being a consequence of any actions and no evidence that he slipped or tripped.
"In fact we have no evidence at all as to how he came to be in water therefore I have reached an open conclusion."
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