‘Deadliest Catch’ Cast Teases Season 15’s Biggest Storm Yet

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The reality hit Deadliest Catchs 15th season got off to a rough start for Sig Hansen, demanding captain of the Northwestern, who survived his second heart attack last October shortly before filming began. His stress level rises Tuesday, May 7 when the Bering Sea crab fleet faces the season’s biggest storm yet.

“It’s all the stuff I’d like to forget,” Hansen says as he recalls how he and his relief skipper, daughter Mandy, continue to set their traps, aka pots, through the night. “She had to deal with some stronger weather than she has in the past.

“She’s not 100 percent comfortable, but I don’t blame her. It takes time and practice, and her [spouse, Clark Pederson] is on deck. One wrong move [in the wheelhouse] and you got a big wave chasing your own husband.”

Meanwhile, over on the Saga, Capt. Jake Anderson tries to beat the clock and get as much crab on the boat as possible before returning to his home base of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. He stays out 20 minutes too long. “It’s just flat-calm and then boom,” he says.


Making matters much worse in the 50-knot winds, the 80,000-pound stack of empty pots on deck isn’t secured properly — and threatens to capsize the vessel.

“The stack broke loose, ripped the crane off its motor, and the crane started swinging violently,” Anderson remembers. “In the dark, I could see the land; I just had to get [to shelter]. Twenty extra minutes could have cost six guys their lives.”

Deadliest Catch, Tuesdays, 9/8c, Discovery