'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 Episode 12 Preview: Is skipper Sig Hansen of the Northwestern retiring?
The skippers and their crews have been navigating rough waters in Season 16 of the 'Deadliest Catch' for some time now. The winter crabbing season has been a challenge with storms wreaking havoc. In the previous episode, Scott Campbell Junior was in trouble. Lady Alaska had a bilge pump issue and that gave them a jolt after they realized the ship listed heavily to its starboard side. The vessel was flooding and Junior was struggling to get the boat to move.
If not for the Discovery Crew vessel that came to their assistance, it's unimaginable to think of the horror Junior and his crew would have gone through. Aboard the Cornelia Marie, greenhorn Maria Dosal got a bump after a strong wave sent her hurtling across and she banged her head to the ceiling of the freezer room, suffering a concussion.
The upcoming episode will focus on Wild Bill Wichrowski's Summer Bay, the Cornelia Marie and the return of Sig Hansen's Northwestern. Last we saw Sig and relief skipper Mandy, his daughter was trying to solve the mechanical issue that plunged the boat into darkness. This was followed by failure of one of the engines while they were in the middle of raking in a potful of Opilio crabs.
The issue effectively put an end to their crabbing expedition as the immediate plan was to get back to town on one engine and chalk out a plan of action. However, the synopsis teased a retirement of sorts for Sig. Or maybe it is just a break. Titled 'Dutch Harbor Double Cross' the official logline reads: "On the Summer Bay there's hell to pay when Bill's backup block goes missing; Cornelia Marie skippers Josh and Casey navigate a tenuous partnership at the Russian line; weighed down by three full tanks, Sig puts a heavy Northwestern in Mandy's hands."
While the Summer Bay and the Cornelia Marie have their own challenges to face, the audience will surely focus more on the Northwestern. It wouldn't be like Sig to hand over the reins just like that, but the tact and proactive attitude Mandy brought to this season may have been some of the reasons. Of course, much of this is pure speculation. It might be a short break or Mandy's in for the long haul with the daunting task of pipping Russia in the fight for Opilio Crab. Sig has been one of the fan-favorite characters and has been featured in a total of 205 episodes since 2005, the most by any member in the show. He is followed by Keith Colburn (175) and Jake Anderson (169) with the two skippers of the Wizard and Saga marking their debuts in 2007.
'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 airs on Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on Discovery.