Farewell to the Old Vessels: 6 ‘Deadliest Catch’ Boats Decommissioned and the Massive New Ship Being Built for Season 21!

Farewell to the Old Vessels: 6 ‘Deadliest Catch’ Boats Decommissioned and the Massive New Ship Being Built for Season 21!

It’s a matter of life or death in Discovery’s Deadliest Catch. With the recent premiere of Season 20, the captains are back for another round of carb fishing on the deadly Bering Sea – all for a chance at a lucrative payday. The 59-time Emmy-nominated series offers an exclusive look one could ever dream of. Featuring an unfiltered glimpse into the grueling October king crab and January opilio crab seasons, the series shows that life on deck is not for the faint-hearted.

Many of the show’s vessels have faced their final voyages after years of battling the harsh elements of the sea. These ships, once vital to the survival and success of their crews, have countless stories etched on their hulls. Each vessel reflects the ever-changing landscape of the crab fishing industry, where even the most reliable boats eventually succumb to the relentless nature of their work.

Check out the stories of these six decommissioned boats on Deadliest Catch.

F/V Saga

In Season 12, fifth-generation fisherman Jake Anderson took over the captain’s seat of the F/V Saga and gave the vessel a complete makeover. Originally built in 1979 and stretching 107 feet long, the Saga underwent a major transformation under Anderson’s care. He installed a brand new refrigeration system, thoroughly cleaned the fuel and water tanks, completely rebuilt all the boat’s CAT engines, gave the ship a fresh coat of paint with a new color scheme, upgraded the wheelhouse for better efficiency and safety, and overhauled the crane and most of the hydraulic system. Despite facing major challenges, including a loose rudder threatening to sink the ship during a storm 460 miles from the nearest port, the Saga fished one of the largest king crab quotas in the fleet.

However, fans of Deadliest Catch may notice the absence of the F/V Saga in Season 20. Before the season began, Captain Anderson received some shocking news about his beloved vessel. As he revealed in the premiere, he got a call from his partner saying the Saga was running out of money. After reaching the dock, one of his deckhands showed him a repossession note on the boat. Just like that, after nearly a decade of co-owning the ship, the F/V Saga is no longer his. Upon learning Anderson doesn’t have a boat to work with this season, his mentor Sig Hansen stepped in, offering Anderson a place on his ship, the F/V Northwestern. He then moved on to the Titan Explorer.

F/V Destination

On February 11, 2017, the F/V Destination tragically went missing during Season 13 of Deadliest Catch, resulting in the loss of its entire six-member crew, including the fleet’s close friend, Captain Jeff Hathaway. The catastrophe was primarily attributed to the unsafe stability conditions, which included carrying heavier crab pots than those specified in its stability instructions. Moreover, excessive ice accumulation from freezing spray added an estimated 340,000 pounds of weight, throwing the vessel off balance. But what eventually led to the ship’s capsizing was downflooding, the ingress of seawater through submerged openings. The ship ultimately sank and met its demise in a matter of minutes, with very little, if not none, time for the crew to actually react to the situation.

F/V Scandies Rose

In Deadliest Catch Season 16, the F/V Scandies Rose faced a heartbreaking fate on 31, 2019, during its journey from Kodiak to the Bering Sea. In the middle of the night, the United States Coast Guard alerted the fleet on water, including Hansen, about a distress call from the Scandies Rose, prompting a desperate, emergency search in freezing weather conditions. Despite their efforts, only two members were rescued, Jon Lawler and Dean Gribble. Unfortunately, Captain Gary Cobban Jr. and four other crew members were still missing. After a 20-hour search covering 1,400 square miles with four helicopter crews, two airplane crews, and the US Coast Guard cutter Mellon, the remaining members were never found.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the sinking was primarily due to faulty stability instructions. The instructions lacked essential details about downflooding points and misrepresented sections of the deck space. Additionally, severe freezing spray conditions likely led to ice buildup on the boat, adding weight and destabilizing it. One of the surviving crew members, who had been keeping an eye on the ice accumulation, thought about waking the crew to clear the ice and possibly changing course and speed. However, the captain decided against this due to the hazardous sea conditions.

F/V Cornelia Marie

Throughout the first decade of Deadliest Catch, the F/V Cornelia Marie became one of the show’s most cherished vessels. Under the command of the late Captain Phil Harris, the ship has had its moments throughout the series. Just like the other ships, the F/V Cornelia Marie and its crew braved subfreezing temperatures and icy conditions as they raced to make a successful haul during the Opilio season. Unfortunately, the fate of F/V Cornelia Marie took an abrupt pause when Captain Harris suffered a stroke while offloading crabs in 2010, eventually leading to his passing at the age of 53 due to intracranial hemorrhage.

Since then, the F/V Cornelia has made on-again off-again appearances. Eventually, Phil’s son, Josh Harris, along with Captain Casey McManus, managed to acquire the vessel. However, due to Josh’s guilty plea for a 1998 sexual assault case involving a minor, Josh’s ties to Deadliest Catch have been cut off, and Cornelia Marie is now absent from the show due to its connection with Josh.

F/V North American

In Season 4 of Deadliest Catch, the F/V North American made a memorable guest appearance, best known for being on the receiving end of a Port-A-Potty prank on the sea. However, on May 16, 2024, the vessel faced a more serious ordeal when it partially sank at a dock in the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. The incident occurred east of the Ballard Bridge, and the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a distress call early Tuesday morning.

Though the crabber can hold up to 32,500 gallons of diesel, the exact amount onboard at the time was unclear. In response, Seattle Fire and other agencies quickly deployed a containment boom around the vessel to prevent fuel pollution, and a dive team worked to seal the vents to minimize further fuel leakage. While there’s no news yet whether the ship is still able to be restored, chances are any fishing activity on the North American is put to a halt until proper investigations take place.

F/V Katmai

Season 5 of Deadliest Catch featured the F/V Katmai, which met a tragic fate on October 21, 2008, when it capsized and sank in the Aleutian Islands, 120 miles from Adak Island. The 93-foot vessel, carrying 11 crew members and 120,000 pounds of frozen cod, was caught in a severe storm, resulting in the loss of steering and progressive flooding as water began entering through open watertight doors. Despite rescue efforts by the Coast Guard, only four crew members, including Captain Henry Blake, survived after enduring over 15 hours on a life raft.