Deadliest Catch's Scariest Moments Ranked

Life on the Bering Sea is a tough old ride, and for almost 20 seasons, "Deadliest Catch" has been on hand to take it all in. Following a fleet of fishing vessels as they scour the Bering Sea for the best crab supply, drama has never been too far behind the many crews that have appeared as the years have gone on. The show has been so popular that its spinoffs have had their moment, bridging the gap between beloved faces and newbie stars looking to cut their teeth on the boats.

As is often the case for unscripted television shot at sea, the possibility of a scary moment never completely goes away on "Deadliest Catch." Even the cast is well aware of what might be in store for them, with Captain Johnathan Hillstrand telling The Hollywood Reporter, "That's the craziest thing about this show, and it's real, and God's the director, so nobody knows what's gonna happen." Whether it's a storm that threatens to jeopardize a vessel and its crew or an accident so bad that that leads to legal action, "Deadliest Catch" has seen a whole host of terrifying moments play out since 2005. Ready to never go into the ocean again? Here are the show's scariest moments, ranked.

Unlike bumper cars at a fun fair, two boats colliding can easily veer into fatal territory. While Harley is on hand as captain of the F/V Southern Wind, Wild Bill is nearby on the F/V Summer Bay. Though both vessels are slow-moving, they ended up in a nasty collision after Harley tried to maneuver out of the docking port. Practically happening in slow motion, the two captains watched helplessly as their boats locked with one another, hoping for the best that no permanent damage was done.

Though this isn't an outwardly scary situation, the prospects of what could have been are terrifying. For both captains, any damage to their vessels or equipment could mean ongoing damage to their livelihoods, alongside possibly injuring any crew that was toward the back of the boat. While Wild Bill is exactly that in name and in nature, he handled the conflict surprisingly well, keeping calm instead of directing any anger towards Harley. The gusty winds are the perfect condition for something terrible to happen, but the captains and crew managed to halt things just in the nick of time.

Scary events in "Deadliest Catch" don't just happen in front of the camera, but behind the scenes, too. As the resident stalwart on the show, Captain Sig Hansen has a reputation that speaks for itself, and has turned into a firm favorite in the eyes of fans and those that he works with. During Season 17 of the show, Hansen got a call from his wife while in the middle of filming. The result was Hansen learning about the fate of the F/V Destination, captained by his long-time friend and fishing colleague, Jeff Hathaway. Capsizing after being weighed down by around 340,000 pounds of ice, the accident became known as the most perilous fishing accident since 2005.

For viewers and Hansen alike, it was a deadly reminder of just how volatile fishing on the open water can be. None of the Destination's crew members survived, with the six of them unable to make a mayday call or seek out any alternative help. In an interview with KUCB, Chris O'Neil from the National Transport Safety Board said, "Whatever happened happened very, very quickly, and there's no one left to tell their story." Hansen had to take some time out to decide whether he wanted to continue filming the season, with the rest of the "Deadliest Catch" cast noticeably shaken to the core.

Though she's a born and bred Hansen, Mandy Hansen is still a new kid on the block amongst the "Deadliest Catch" captains. Starting her time on the show with a cameo at 13 years old, it wasn't until 2014 that she became a regular cast member. Just like her dad, she's able to take life on the ocean waves in stride as she shares captaining duties aboard the F/V Northwestern. In the unluckiest of situations, it was when Hansen was working the vessel alone that disaster chose to strike. During a Season 15 episode, the boat crew warned that a hook had worked loose while the Northwestern was traveling too quickly to fix it. A few moments later, the hook flew off its rope toward those on board, with the potential to do some fatal damage.

Within seconds, Hansen's face turned as white as a ghost. It's not surprising given that she's rarely seen to be captaining on her own, but also, minutes before, deckhands had expressed their concerns on camera about her captaining by herself. Luckily nobody was hurt, but the accident certainly set pulses racing. When Sig comes back from his break there's a stern lecture — which leaves his daughter a completely different kind of terrified.

Even if you have never watched an episode of "Deadliest Catch" before, Nick McGlashan is a name that you might recognize. Joining the cast back in Season 9 as a deckhand, McGlashan racked up appearances in 78 episodes over seven years before being suspended from the show by bosses during Season 13. Before things got that bad, he took a scary turn while working on the F/V Summer Bay. While the crew was getting ready to set off on a nighttime fishing expedition, McGlashan tripped and fell on the dock while running to get on the boat. The fall quickly turned nasty, with paramedics needing to board the boat to attend to him.

While the injuries were scary enough on their own, McGlashan's fall set the precedent for the rest of his journey on "Deadliest Catch." The crew was aware of his issues with drug addiction while working as a deckhand, and he sadly passed away at the age of 33. Though he was no longer on the show at the time, his legacy lived on, with his father Wild Bill learning of the news on camera, and the "Deadliest Catch" vessels paying tribute. If nothing else, the scariest problems are the ones that were there all along.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

One of the lesser-talked-about vessels featured on "Deadliest Catch" is the F/V Aleutian Ballad, captained by Jerry "Corky" Tilley during Seasons 2 and 3. Though not as popular as the likes of the F/V Northwestern and Summer Bay, the Aleutian Ballad made its time on screen count thanks to an extremely violent storm. With the weather so bad that fishing became impossible, the crew took shelter in the comfort of the mess deck. Meanwhile, Tilley was left to do the best he could with the vessel, despite being unable to see out of the windows thanks to heavy rainfall. Out of nowhere, the Aleutian Ballad was blindsided by a rogue wave, leaving them potentially about to capsize.

It's a moment that viewers remember well, with certain fans naming it as one of the scariest things to ever happen during an episode of "Deadliest Catch." Reddit user socialfishman remarked, "The wave was at a 90-degree angle to all the other waves and hit the boat completely broadside. You see it for a split second then everything is black.... I think the boat actually rolled and righted itself by some miracle. I experienced one in my life and it nearly got us but it was NOTHING like that one. The direction and size were mind-blowing."

Deckhands are the bread and butter of a vessel, but they get a particularly hard time if they ever appear on "Deadliest Catch." As far as captains go, Wild Bill isn't exactly meek and mild, and is often noted for his creative use of swearing and fiery temper. During a nighttime fishing expedition aboard the F/V Summer Bay, Bill had his eyes set on the prize of beating the other boats to find the crab. On the way, deckhand Spencer Moore was suddenly thrown overboard by a rogue wave, while the rest of the crew jumped into panicked action.

There's not much scarier than the thought of being thrown into the cold sea in the middle of the night with little means of rescue — yet it became poor Moore's reality. As the Summer Bay crew struggled to get him back to safety, Bill remained assertive yet calm, even though he might have been part of the problem. Looking to turn the vessel in order to get a better angle on the crab, Moore's sudden loss of stability couldn't have been helped by the change in direction. With a supermoon hanging over them in the sky, was the Summer Bay always destined to host one of the scariest moments in the show's history?

Storms are aplenty on "Deadliest Catch," but the F/V Northwestern ran into one that looked like it was straight out of a horror movie. Sig Hansen was in the captain's chair as the vessel headed out on an evening fishing expedition, with the boat gradually losing light as more time went on. As the sky turned pitch black, the boat's power completely cut out, leaving Hansen and the rest of its crew rummaging around in the dark. The generator alarm sounded while the waves picked up more speed, throwing Hansen out of his chair and across the captain's quarters. Cue frenzied shouting and cries for power, with the Northwestern unable to be seen from the outside.

Simply put, this scene is the stuff of nightmares. Even for an experienced captain such as Hansen, his fear and tension were palpable. At the last minute, someone founds a switch on the generator that seemed to start up an emergency supply, bringing Hansen back to a state of calm. Being stranded in a volatile sea with no light, no power, and no means of escape is certainly a slasher movie opening that writes itself.