‘Deadliest Catch’: Captain Sig Hansen Suffers Medical Emergency at Sea

[Warning: The below contains spoilers for Deadliest Catch Season 21]

There has been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears shed during Season 21 of Deadliest Catch. It all led up to a dramatic one-two punch of episodes during the October 31 double episode finale. Sig Hansen was stressed with an offload bairdi quota deadline coming in four days. He received a call from Jake Anderson, who wasn’t too far off, asking if his former mentor wanted to partner up. Sig initially turned him down. Jake had another idea to boost numbers. He opted to weld and set pairs of pots across the narrow channel in a zig-zag pattern. His hope was to herd the crab in like sheep dogs through baited gear. Sig eventually came back and went with Jake’s herding approach. Sig’s Northwestern went north while Jake’s Titan Explorer went south.

The plan proved fruitful. However, Sig was starting to feel the physical and mental demands of captaining a vessel deep into a season. Feeling especially tired, he called his son-in-law Clark Pederson to the wheelhouse to take over while he went to lay down. Later on a crew member checked on Sig to find him on the floor in his room. It was a dramatic scene that even led to the producer to ask if he needed help. There was vomit spotted nearby. The crew wanted to alert the coast guard, but Sig refused. “I was just dizzy,” Sig explained. “It feels tight on my chest.” 

Knowing he had two previous heart attacks, Clark consulted with a cardiology specialist via phone to see what they should do. The medical professional asked him to take his blood pressure and check his pulse. Sig mentioned having shoulder pain. “How fast can you get him medical attention,” the specialist asked. He suggested elevating his legs for increased blood flow and to head to a medical clinic ASAP. They made it back to port. Sig headed off to see a cardiologist and get checked out.  

Clark Pederson/Discovery Channel

It was then up to Clark to finish things up with 60,000 pounds of bairdi still to catch. This was the first time he captained by himself. Back on land in Washington, Sig met with the doctor. Sig spoke about what led up to the event including being up for a day-and-a-half and drinking a ton of coffee, in excess of 15-20 cups. Sig admitted he was also still smoking. Arrhythmia increased the risk of having a heart attack. The doctor encouraged him to stop smoking and lay off the caffeine, especially in such a high stressful job. The doctor suggested he may also want to reconsider fishing more. “You’re not doing yourself any favors being on the boat.” Needless to say, Sig had a lot to think about regarding his future. Clark made it back home as the conquering hero. He met the quota, which translated to $52,000 for each deckhand. Sig was proud of his son-in-law and thankful for his efforts. So much he gifted him a new set of wheels. Sig  As for retiring Sig said, “I don’t see that happening. Quite, frankly, I don’t want to.” 

Meanwhile, Jake had his own issues aboard the Titan Explorer with a big quota looming. His key deckhand Mac White hurt his knee, but he limped on through until he reached a point he needed to step aside. Jake hoped to get him back in the game as the 40-year veteran was an important member of the team. Mac valiantly made it back on deck to finish the job. Jake met his quota with a mammoth 400,000 pounds of bairdi worth $2.9 million. Now it was just about writing a check and filling out paperwork to own the Titan Explorer outright. His crew received $145,000 each for their efforts. 

Discovery Channel

In Anchorage, Alaska, Keith Colburn was getting himself checked out at the hospital. His brother Monte held down the fort on The Wizard. There were still 100,000 pounds of crab left to catch. An alarm sounded ,and he lost steering. The plan was to weld piping down below the vessel to operate the steering manually while they work on another motor over the next few hours. The waves were coming in strong as Monte communicated directives of where to steer while the pots were placed. 

Keith received good news from the  panel results on his kidneys and back. He may return to work. Back on the boat, Joe, chief engineer, was able to get the steering going again. Then it came back to hauling to finish the season strong. Monte took a break to pick up his brother from the airport. With an offload done, they were getting out there for opilio before the cannery closed. Despite turbulent weather and conditions, their numbers picked up and headed home. 

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Rick Shelford had a difficult opilio season as well and battled particularly icy conditions. He made a last-ditch effort to make his goal on the Aleutian Lady as he dropped 120 pots in the midst of 20-foot breakers. Rick had to deal with a potentially disastrous leak that put his crab tank and 65,000 pounds of crab worth $425,000 in danger. Luckily, the crew managed to locate the leak and seal it up. 

Though it wasn’t smooth sailing when his deckhand Noah got smacked in the face with a steel hook. Rick likened it to getting punched in the face by Mike Tyson. With blood coming out of his mouth, Noah had cracked teeth. Rick had no choice but to head back to the Dutch Harbor for him to get helped by a dentist. Rick headed back on the waters to get the rest of his crab. He finished with 220,000 pounds for his quota, which meant a $55,000 pay day for each hand. Overall a job well done.