ByJason Connolly/Updated: Sept. 14, 2022 1:40 pm EST
The F/V Cornelia Marie is one of the most iconic fishing vessels ever featured on Discovery's "Deadliest Catch," and has been a major focus of the series for over 16 years. When we first met the crew of the Cornelia Marie back in Season 2, the boat itself was captained by legendary fisherman Phil Harris,who tragically passed away during the series' 6th season.
Following Captain Phil's unexpected death, the next few seasons saw the Cornelia Marie being captained by a variety of seasoned fishermen until Phil's son, Josh Harris, took over as captain during Season 10 — a duty he shares to this day with Co-Captain Casey McManus. Not only does the Cornelia Marie continue to play a major role within "Deadliest Catch," but the ship is also a central focus of "Deadliest Catch: Bloodlines." That spin-off sees Harris and McManus using the ship to explore a set of mysterious fishing charts left behind by the late Captain Phil himself (all while the younger Harris attempts to reconnect with his estranged brother, Shane).
Longtime fansknow that the Cornelia Marie is undoubtedly one of the most important fishing vessels in the entire franchise. That is perhaps why it was so surprising when the ship abruptly disappeared during Season 13 of the series.
It was allegedly Discovery's decision to remove the Cornelia Marie during Season 13
Fans who watched Season 13 of "Deadliest Catch" will know that the F/V Cornelia Marie is notably absent from that particular season, and to this day, it remains somewhat unclear exactly why the ship was not featured. In a now-deleted livestream from 2016, Captain Josh Harris took to Facebook to announce that the ship would not be returning for Season 13 and asserted that the decision to omit the CorneliaMarie was made entirely by Discovery.
"We do not have a camera crew aboard this king crab season," Harris explained in the livestream, which was transcribed by Country Living. "This was not our decision and it was not made by the owners nor the captains of the Cornelia. This was not a dispute over money, this was simply a decision made by production [at] Discovery." Harris went on to explain that, despite the absence of cameras aboard the Cornelia that year, the crew would still be out there working hard during the king crab season — even if fans might not see it within the show.
Harris offered further explanation during an interview with Yahoo Entertainment in 2017, in which he admitted that around the time of production, he was busy visiting multiple people in the ICU, and that he didn't necessarily want that on camera. Harris' later comments seem to imply that there were external factors that influenced Discovery's decision to pull the cameras from the Cornelia Marie during Season 13. Whatever the reason, the ship returned to the spotlight in Season 14 and has remained a major focus of the series ever since.
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