‘Deadliest Catch’ Season 16 Captains & Ships

The 16th season of Deadliest Catch premieres Tuesday, April 14 on the Discovery Channel. It’s going to be an “all-out war” with Russia this season, which sounds a little crazy and a little terrifying. The show is also bringing back a couple of captains who haven’t been on the show for several seasons. Here’s what we know about the season 16 cast.

The Season 16 Cast

Discovery has released a list of the captains for the upcoming season, including descriptions that let us know a little bit about what they’re up to this year. The cast is as follows:

Captain Jake Anderson on The Saga: “This year, Jake calls in one of his closest friends: Bering Sea legend and Time Bandit Skipper Johnathan Hillstrand, lured out of retirement in hopes of a historic payday. Johnathan brings his crab quota, while his ‘protégé’, Jake, provides the boat to catch it. But will this unorthodox approach pay off?”

Captain Scott Campbell Jr. on The Seabrooke: He returns to the show “in the hopes for a multimillion-dollar payday. But will life-threatening back injuries prevent him from hitting the jackpot?”

Captain Sig Hansen on The Northwestern: Hansen is “hoping for the most profitable season yet, with big plans for a first-place finish. This year, Sig has a jump start on the competition with his daughter Mandy, 24, at the helm for the first solo trip of her young career, before later joining her at the helm as father, and commander. Will Sig’s strategy work? Can Mandy stand up to the pressure? Will they make a solid team? Or will it prove true that you should never mix family with business?”

Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski on The Summer Bay: Wichrowski “hopes to take advantage of the squeeze in supply caused by the new Russian quota system. The quicker to the market, the higher the dollar. The only problem? He’s down two crew members after firing them just hours before the season launch. Will he be able to find skilled replacements? Or will new blood on deck knock him out before the race even starts?”

Captains Josh Harris and Casey McManus on The Cornelia Marie: Harris and McManus have “funneled a fortune into the storied crabber, hoping the new and improved Cornelia will help them beat the Russian and American competition to the dock. This season, they plan to work their crew even harder, including a new crew member who proves to be their secret weapon: Maria, a 25-year-old Alaskan native who has spent most of her life working on boats. She certainly shows the guys more than a thing or two.”

Captain Steve “Harley” David on The Southern Wind: David is “digging into his bag of tricks to hopefully outsmart the Russians and his own compatriots. And Wizard Captains Keith and Monty Colburn are back as well with big plans to uncover new crabbing grounds. But will their strategy put them head-on with a powerful arctic storm that’s headed straight through the heart of the fishing grounds?”

The Russia Connection

The Discovery Channel teases, “For the first time ever on Deadliest Catch, the Alaskan crab fleet will face off against their biggest rival – the Russians. A competition so fierce, the captains must push into uncharted territory, including one veteran actually going to Russia. This season will bring new fishing alliances, former Catch captains returning to the fleet and a global, headline-grabbing winter storm that pounds their crab boats.”

It continues, “This year, the Russians are taking an unprecedented move by revamping their crab quota system, and in turn, cutting down on illegal fishing. Now, the price of King Crab is slated to skyrocket, igniting the most cut-throat season yet. The quicker the captains can catch their crab and return to dock, the more money they can make. Everyone is vying for an edge – luring back some of the fleet’s most legendary faces. But just how hard can they push before things get deadly?”

Deadliest Catch airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery.

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