Marc S. Hill, 45, of Dillingham, Alaska, was working aboard the 96-foot crabber Lin-J when the vessel sank in the Bering Sea on March 18, 1999. The Lin-J was operating about eight miles northwest of St. Paul Island with four other crew members on board: Captain Blake Kinnear, Jason Conlon, John Mckerley, and Aaron Miller-Moylan. Heavy sea icing — freezing spray and precipitation accumulating on the vessel’s superstructure and raising its center of gravity — overwhelmed the boat and caused it to capsize and sink.

Search and rescue efforts recovered no sign of the Lin-J or its crew. Marc Hill and the four crewmates are presumed to have drowned in the incident. The case underlines the hazards of commercial fishing in Alaskan waters and the lethal threat posed by rapid ice buildup on small vessels.

If anyone has information about the Lin-J’s final voyage or remembers anything relevant to the March 18, 1999 sinking, please share what is known.