As a seasoned sailor myself, I can attest that each of these harrowing moments on “Deadliest Catch” is a testament to the courage and resilience of those who brave the Bering Sea’s unpredictable waters.
Fishing on the ice-coated open ocean during crabbing season is a dangerous enough occupation. When you’re accompanied by a bunch of camera-bearing civilians with boom mics, a fleet of greenhorns, and the unpredictable fury of Mother Nature, then it can easily become a disaster. The captains who keep their vessels ship-shape on “Deadliest Catch” know from experience that it’s not easy making your quotas, keeping your ship from foundering aground, and making sure your crew’s not at each other’s throats. A disaster — man-made or natural — is never a welcome thing.
But the bitter and the sweet in life often intermingle, and so it is for “Deadliest Catch.” Skippers have faced down illness, crab-killing hardships, lost deckhands, and horrifyingly dangerous weather during their time on the briny blue. Their ships refuse to cooperate with their plans and leak, shatter, and even sink. Fortunately, the show’s captains have never suffered the catastrophe of losing their own boat with Discovery’s cameras rolling. But they have seen a lot of scary things go down over the past 20-plus seasons, and some of those incidents were very close calls. Here are the top five disasters faced by captains on “Deadliest Catch.”
5: The Wizard catches fire
A boat fire is a terrifying ordeal that can claim lives and destroy vessels within mere seconds; in the treacherous Bering Sea, it becomes even more perilous. During Season 19, Captain Keith Colburn encountered such a calamity, and it struck at the very moment he was rejoicing over a substantial catch. In the midst of a phone conversation, Colburn was suddenly interrupted by shouts of ‘fire’, only to find himself confronted with heavy smoke upon reaching the engine room.
As a fervent admirer of our vessel’s crew, I found myself in a chilling situation when a rupture in the pipeline unleashed noxious gases everywhere, making me retch and wheeze uncontrollably. A deckhand bravely equipped himself with a safety respirator to mend the leak. Fortunately, we extinguished the flames, allowing us to move past this harrowing event and bring our record haul into port. Yet, this near-disaster left an undeniable air of apprehension among us all.
It’s remarkable that captains from “Deadliest Catch” have faced fires at sea on more than one occasion. For instance, the ship “Wizard” caught fire in Season 20 and the “Northwestern” had a similar ordeal in Season 12, both causing power outages. Interestingly, Sig Hansen encountered a fire during his debut episode and during the first season’s voyage to The Norwegian. Fortunately, no one was harmed in any of these incidents.
4 The Saga has to replace a window in the middle of a storm
For any crab fisherman, a shattered window is certainly unwelcome – it means enduring the harsh, freezing ocean breeze and potentially chilly seawater. Stormy weather only worsens these already perilous conditions. Unfortunately, Jake Anderson from the Saga experienced this very danger during Season 19 when the initial ignition system on his ship’s crane malfunctioned, causing a metal fragment to crash through the wheelhouse window.
In the heart of an intense tempest, I found myself aboard our gaming vessel, staring at the shattered remains of the wheelhouse window, surrounded by precious navigational and steering gear. With no time to lose, I knew we needed a replacement window right away. Amidst the howling wind and crashing waves, my crew bravely welded a new pane into place, all under the watchful eye of Discovery’s cameras.
Incredibly, just like in Keith Colburn’s case during Season 19, a crab cage unexpectedly came free and crashed into the cabin window. Luckily, they managed to repair the broken glass with makeshift materials and proceeded with their day.
3: The Saga loses power when the engine room floods
As an ardent fan, I must say that the chronicles of this vessel, known as The Saga, have weathered numerous calamities during its sea voyage. It has faced attacks from seagulls and braved every type of natural catastrophe imaginable. Yet, among all those harrowing tales, there’s one moment that stands out in the annals of “Deadliest Catch” – when Jake Anderson had to replace a ruptured pipe amidst a power failure, following a flood in the engine room of his ship. That’s a story I won’t forget anytime soon!
The incident occurred during Season 18. Anderson was about to doze off when rookie Shayanne, who was at the helm while Jake was napping, noticed that an alarm was sounding due to water accumulating in the bilge. This awakened Jake, who promptly identified a burst pipe responsible for circulating water to the crab tanks as the culprit. By the time he dove into the engine room, the water level had reached his waist due to the pipe failure. His crewmates, Mac and Mason, took over steering while Shayanne helped Jake drain the engine room. Once the water was under control, Jake managed to fix the pipe and its fitting, with Shayanne welding the parts together. However, during this process, the power went out, leading Mac to call for assistance.
In the end, everything turned out fine as the old pipe was successfully swapped out. However, that initial experience was a heart-stopping ordeal, one that remains both terrifying and exhilarating to recollect from afar.
2: Sig Hansen has a cameraman and a deckhand go overboard
Throughout the series, various captains have faced incidents where crew members went overboard. For instance, Freddy jumped into the water bare-chested to retrieve a walrus carcass for The Wizard’s bait, and Wild Bill came close to losing his deckhand, Spencer, to the frigid waters. The Time Bandit once rescued a deckhand from another vessel after he fell into the ocean. Sig Hansen, a long-time series participant, lived through the harrowing experience of seeing one of his crew members go overboard during Season 24 – an unfortunate event that also resulted in one of the show’s cameramen accidentally being pulled overboard as well.
The event unfolded as deckhand Clark scaled the stack of crab traps to untangle their connecting chain. Suddenly, the rope slipped, causing both Clark and the cameraman to plunge into the water. Thankfully, they were retrieved using slings and taken below deck to get warm.
Regardless of how you look at it, the heart-stopping instant is undeniably surprising. As Sig expressed in the aftermath, with tears streaming down his face, “Such incidents aren’t meant to occur on this vessel.” When he hugs Clark, you can truly feel the gravity of the situation.
1: The many times a ship has sunk
One unfortunate event a captain might face is enduring a shipwreck. Fortunately, shipbuilders haven’t personally encountered the terrifying ordeal of sinking with their ships. However, they’ve tragically lost comrades to maritime disasters depicted on “Deadliest Catch.” Their sorrow and dread have been vividly captured on film multiple times.
Remarkably, the sinking of the V/F Destination during Season 15 had a profound impact on Sig Hansen. The captain of the Destination was one of his closest friends, and viewers shared in his grief as he discovered that his friend’s boat vanished without a trace. “I suppose you expect me to offer some words,” he said. “But for now, let me just ask for a moment to gather my thoughts; I will share my feelings with you soon, I promise.”
Later, the sinking of the V/F Scandies Rose occurred in 2019, causing a profound reaction from various captains as they watched the event unfold on camera. Nothing illustrates the gravity of life and death stakes better than the devastating impact of sudden loss, and this disaster was no exception. These sinking incidents serve to highlight the risks these mariners face, making their struggles and victories all the more compelling to follow.
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2024-08-24 21:00