Lost at Sea! The Heartbreaking Truth Behind the Destination’s Tragic Demise
On last night’s episode of Deadliest Catch, the fleet is shown to be flirting with danger as they are all as north and west as can be, near the Russian Line.
This is important because the area is prone to shipwrecks and boats disappearing.
Which brings us to what Monsters & Critics previously reported on the start of the Deadliest Catch season: The shocking vanishing of Destination.
The Seattle-based Destination went down without a mayday call and as a tribute to the lost lives, Discovery and show producers aired an episode partially as a reminder to those who watch the series that crabbing is no joke. It’s a serious business with life and death consequences all the time.
The Destination disappearing into the sea had stunned a Bering Sea crabbing industry, and the last messages, sightings, and words of their friends have deeply haunted the core cast of the series, who have seen their share of tragedy over the years.
What happened to Destination now has been intelligently speculated upon by officials, but in the video below the Deadliest Catch captains take turns talking about their recollections and how they are haunted by what may have gone wrong in the sinking that killed Captain Jeff Hathaway and five others.
Deckhands and crew continue to take the brunt of the Bering and injuries pile up as the season progresses.
On the Cornelia Marie, Josh took over as Casey stitches up a crewman and the Brenna A tests a former Marine who is injured too.
A call from home has Captain Sig relieved once he hears from his wife June. And Wild Bill does his best Chris Farley imitation goofing in the cabin while Nick McGlashan’s ankle is healing as they run the Russian line with the rest of the fleet. Unfortunately, Nick popped his right arm ending the jolly mood.
But the news that June’s cancer scare is contained and manageable was what Sig needed. She called Sig to assure him she was okay. June urged him to continue fishing and make some money. He said: “She’s right, everybody else is counting on this season…I needed to hear that.”
Later in the episode, Sig’s picking hook slid off the bridle and snagged on the end of the crane. The crew had to retrieve the hook twelve feet above the deck in an area Sig said: “You don’t want to be monkeying around.”
For good reason.
This area could easily see a replay of the sinking of a ship just like the Destination.
What could have sunk Destination?
According to The Seattle Times, officials say these factors were likely culprits:
- Bulbous bow (front of ship)
- Not enough ports for water deck drainage (ice on deck weight)
- Incorrect crab pot weights
- No safety and stability checks
- Rogue wave
What did the captains do when they heard?
According to news affiliate KUCB:
The other captains were at a bar called the Norwegian Rat when the word spread.
“If I could get everyone to be completely silent for a moment and respect the time these guys put into the Bering Sea,” says emcee and crabber Casey McManus. McManus settles the crowd down, so the bell-ringing can begin.
It’s a tradition, when you lose a fisherman, you ring a bell in his honor. “The first one is going to be Captain Jeff Hathaway, Larry O’Grady … Charles Glenn Jones … Raymond J. Vincler … Kai Hamik … and Darrik Seibold.”
The consensus was that the Destination was a great boat with a very professional experienced crew. After a two-year investigation, the mystery must be solved. The fishing community as a whole was hit hard.
The captains mourned the loss of their friends and noted that for so many years, most people thought crab fishing was safe for the first time and then comes the loss of a boat with all hands on board dying.
Speaking to the camera, Captain Sig Hansen said: “It was a shot across the bow because you really didn’t expect that to happen…it just doesn’t make sense, what happened so fast that the guys couldn’t get up a mayday?”
Somber and reflective, Captain Jake Anderson says: “I want to know what happened to that boat because I don’t want it to happen to me.”
