Deadliest Catch star Nick Mavar dead at 59: TV star passes away after suffering 'medical emergency'

Deadliest Catch star Nick Mavar has died aged 59.

The former deckhand on the F/V Northwestern passed away Thursday afternoon following a medical emergency in Naknek, Alaska , the Bristol Bay Borough Police Department confirmed to TMZ .

Mavar's family has been notified and police are conducting interviews - but would not reveal the nature of the medical emergency.

He appeared in 98 episodes of Deadliest Catch from 2005 to 2021 - which follows crab fishermen aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea.

He also starred in numerous spin-off series, including Deadliest Catch: Siberian Winter and Deadliest Catch: The Bait.

He married wife Julie in August 2021.

Mavar left the show after suffering a ruptured appendix during a December 2020 voyage - which was chronicled on one of his final episodes.

He sued Captain Sig Hansen and his wife June - claiming there was a delay in getting him outside medical treatment during the pandemic. Mavar sought $1m in damages.

Per ADN , Mavar's complaint claimed that a 'delay in competent and adequate examination, testing, and diagnosis' led to a ruptured appendix as well as the discovery of a cancerous tumor.

The original complaint claimed: 'The lack of a plan for outside medical care led to the 'failure to assure plaintiff was promptly taken to the Dutch Harbor medical clinic for an examination and assessment of plaintiff's medical condition.'

It also alleged that the delayed care caused the rupture, leading to infections, surgeries and cancer treatment that 'would not have occurred had the appendix been removed prior to rupture.'

Hansen said the blame did not lie solely on him and cited the production company and the medical subcontractor.

In May 2023 Northwestern’s owners were seeking damages, legal and medical payments related to Mavar’s injuries.

In recent years Mavar had been captaining his own salmon boat in Alaska's Bristol Bay.