Deadliest Catch S19 Adds Perfect Storm Survivor Linda Greenlaw To The Cast

It's no doubt been a long, cold, lonely winter for fans of "Deadliest Catch." But with spring officially sprung, a new season of Discovery's hit reality drama has finally made its way to the network. And as the first two episodes of the series' 19th season have made crystal clear, the new season has brought with it some potentially lucrative new fishing rules to the Captains and crews who name Dutch Harbor, Alaska their regular port of call.

As it happens, the new season of "Deadliest Catch" has also brought a few fresh faces to the mix, with a handful of Bering Sea newbs set to give the likes of Sig Hansen, Jake Anderson, and the rest of the regular players a run for their money. One of those new Captains is hardly a greenhorn, though. In fact, Dutch Harbor newcomer Linda Greenlaw is a legit legend in the fishing industry, and is best known for Captaining the North Atlantic sword-fishing vessel the Hannah Boden.

That is indeed one of the vessels that managed to survive the so-called "Perfect Storm" that ransacked the North East coast back in 1991. And yes, the Hannah Boden was also the sister vessel to Captain Billy Tyne's Andrea Gail, which was lost at sea during the epic, deadly storm. 

It's a safe bet the names Linda Greenlaw, Hannah Boden, Billy Tyne, and Andrea Gail sound very familiar to many of you. That's because they were all key players in "The Perfect Storm," Sebastian Junger's smash-hit biographical re-telling of the tragic 1991 extreme weather event. Published in 1997, that book, of course, served as source material for the 2000 blockbuster of the same name, which cast George Clooney as the Captain of the lost Andrea Gail, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Greenlaw, the last person to make contact with Billy Tyne before his ship went missing.

Though "Deadliest Catch" bosses were undoubtedly thrilled at the thought of Greenlaw bringing a dash of Hollywood flavor to their show, she brings more to the mix than just her fame-adjacent name. As noted in a recent Distractify piece, she'd actually made a bit of a name for herself on the fishing scene long before "The Perfect Storm" made her name famous.

Still, there were questions as to how Greenlaw would adjust to working in the unforgiving, icy waters of the Bering Sea. "Deadliest Catch" has, understandably, dramatized that transition early in Season 19. But as Greenlaw said during a recent Q&A published by Spectrum Local News Maine, she didn't find it that hard to adapt. "Transitioning to the crab fishery was not too difficult for me," she said, later adding the main difference was the recovery process for the massive crab pots. Whatever the case, it should be fascinating to see Greenlaw's story play out as Season 19 of "Deadliest Catch" unfolds.