Nick Mavar, “Deadliest Catch” deckhand, dies at 59 after medical emergency at boatyard

Mavar appeared in the very first episode of Discovery’s crab fishing reality series.

Nick Mavar, a deckhand who appeared on 17 seasons of Deadliest Catch, died Thursday at age 59.

A representative for the Bristol Bay Borough Police Department confirmed Mavar’s death to Entertainment Weekly. Authorities told PEOPLE that they received a 911 call from a boatyard in Naknek, Alaska, reporting a medical emergency. The outlet noted that emergency personnel transported Navar to Camai Medical Center "while providing life saving measures” before the medical staff pronounced him dead. Police also told PEOPLE that an investigation is underway.

A rep for Discovery did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.

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Mavar made his Deadliest Catch debut in 2005, when he could be seen working as a deckhand on the Northwestern in the very first episode of Discovery’s crab fishing reality series. He appeared on 98 episodes across 16 years, serving as the right hand man for Captain Sig Hansen on that same vessel.

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In December 2020, Mavar was airlifted to a hospital after his appendix ruptured during filming. Doctors then discovered a cancerous tumor within his appendix, and he did not return to the show following his diagnosis. His final episode aired during season 17 the following year.

Mavar later sued the owners of the Northwestern over the incident, alleging they provided insufficient medical care for the crew. Those owners then sued the production company Original Productions, Inc. and the show’s medical provider Trifecta Solutions, claiming there was “failure to have an adequate plan in place” for medical coverage during the pandemic.

The news of Mavar's death comes in the wake of fellow Deadliest Catch star Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski sharing his prostate cancer diagnosis in the season 20 premiere of the show. Nick McGlashan, Wichrowski’s deck boss on the Summer Bay, died in 2020. Another deckhand, Mahlon Reyes, died in 2020 after suffering a heart attack at 38.

Related: No fish guts, no glory: What it's like to be a Deadliest Catch deckhand for the day

Mavar’s nephew Jake Anderson was also part of the Deadliest Catch family, serving first as a greenhorn on the Northwestern before graduating to deckhand and eventually becoming the captain of the Saga.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.