Sig Hansen Faces Disaster After Losing Engine Control

We’re days away from the canary closure for the season, and the captains need to make their offload by any means necessary. The road hasn’t been easy for Rick Shelford, who was now down a man after his greenhorn deckhand Todd Meadows suffered a concussion. Johnathan Hillstrand was also working through his issues aboard the Time Bandit. 

During the September 18 episode, Sig Hansen experienced a harrowing few moments when it appeared the Northwestern had a mind of its own. The installment also caught up with Jake Anderson, who was doing all he could to get home to his children. 

Find out what happened on the Discovery Channel series this week. 

Johnathan Hillstrand

Johnathan Hillstrand (Discovery Channel)

Johnathan had an offload in five days, and the veteran of the Bering Sea knew anything could go wrong. They had a tiny window to capitalize and get on some crab. Unfortunately, a crew member named Steve experienced a nasty head injury while on deck. He had a bad cut and got knocked out. Johnathan sent him inside to sit out and be monitored by a colleague, but they were now shorthanded. The gear has been pulling in blanks. The Time Bandit also had to deal with a cracked crane with oil leaking, which could cause problems for the boat. They managed to pull through and the numbers in the pots rose. “No matter what, never give up,” Johnathan declared. 

Rick Shelford 

Rick Shelford (Discovery Channel)

With Todd out, Rick brought on a new deckhand to help out on the Aleutian Lady named Brandon. He was someone who admittedly didn’t know much about pots nor experience on a crab boat, but the hope would be he caught on quickly. Brandon monitored the wheelhouse overnight and was quick to alert the team when the engine room started smoking. The air clutch burnt up so they didn’t have hydraulics on the port generator. Rick was happy with Brandon’s quick response. Overall, the captain faced two-and-a-half days of fishing delays including time to replace the clutch, drop off Todd, and pick up Brandon. 

Everything looked like things were on the up and up until Brandon struggled on deck. He revealed to Rick he had a four-wheel accident in 2022. The newcomer hurt his back and was basically not able to physically handle the demands of the job. So his time wasn’t a total waste, Rick instructed him to prepare a meal for the team as a way of being productive. The guys ultimately kept powering through. Todd called Rick and provided good news that he was cleared by the doctors. Rick was excited to have Todd back. He’d fly up to replace Brandon.

Jake Anderson 

Jake Anderson (Discovery Channel)

Jake was motivated to get home to his children. He talked to a realtor with some leads on a new place. The divorced dad looked for a new house for his family to live in, perhaps for a fresh start. Mother Nature once again wasn’t cooperating as the weather picked up. His plan was simple: get in and out quickly. Overall, Jake was grateful to captain Cornelia Marie and continued on in memory of the late captain Phi Harris.

The crew has been tracking crab activity to the north with 35,000 pounds left to catch. At one point, the  lights went out and the generator and battery backup failed. There was some overheating. They managed to get lights on, but the generator was lost. During this period, the crew had the arduous task of manually pushing the pots that are 900 pounds to the lift gate in order to place them into the water. Thankfully, for the exhausted team they managed to get the  system working again.

Sig Hansen

Sig headed south with no time to screw around. He generated solid bairdi numbers, which was good. Things took a turn when the Northwestern’s engine started sticking. The vessel missed a pot as Sig lost control.

The engine was running away, so Sig rushed to shut it down. “That was a close one,” Sig reacted. Son-in-law Clark Pederson and the rest of the team get back to work with the engine working once more. Now it’s a matter of if there was crab in the area. Thankfully, the first pot brought in big numbers. Sig got a call from Jake at the end of the episode. They share a nice moment. “I’m proud of you, man,” Sig said. He told Jake that Phil would be proud of him. 

Deadliest Catch, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel