On January 15, 1995, 37-year-old James Foster was skipper and part-owner of the F/V Northwest Mariner, a 93-foot steel crab boat that capsized in the Bering Sea on the opening day of the Opilio season. The six-person crew, all from Washington State, were about 120 nautical miles northwest of St. Paul Island when a brief mayday was sent; the message did not specify the emergency. Severe weather was reported that day, with 40-knot winds and 24-foot seas.

Rescuers located the overturned vessel and a nearby life raft containing two crewmen, Bob Peterson and Troy Collins, who were unresponsive and could not be revived. Four crew members, including Foster and crewmembers Lawrence Johnston, Bruce Forde, and Robert Olson, were never found and the search was called off. The exact cause of the capsizing remains unknown and the families were left without final answers or a recovered vessel.

Did anyone have a work connection or voyage detail about the Northwest Mariner that could shed light on what happened that day?