TORONTO (October 1, 2020) – Discovery’s original docuseries
DISASTERS AT SEA takes viewers aboard a journey to investigate the world’s greatest marine mysteries returns in its all-new second season, airing
Sundays at
8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT beginning
Oct. 18.
Season 2 of
DISASTERS AT SEA embarks with the 2006
sinking of B.C. passenger ferry Queen of the North, which struck an underwater ledge off Gil Island carrying 101 passengers – all but two of which were rescued by Gitga’at First Nation residents in Hartley Bay. Additionally, this season features two vessels that share tragic milestones this month – the fifth anniversary of the shipwreck of U.S. container ship
El Faro on October 1, and 17 years since Staten Island ferry
Andrew Barberi crashed on October 15.
Each episode of the six-part, one-hour hit series tells the unimaginable true story of a single maritime disaster through a unique combination of archival footage, harrowing re-enactments, expert analysis from marine investigators, and survivor testimonies. In a suspenseful journey, each episode offers insight into one of the deadliest jobs on the planet, the men and women who choose this dangerous life, and the marine investigators who work tirelessly to help make the high seas a safer place.
The first two episodes of
DISASTERS AT SEA are now available for media screening on
TheLede.ca. Subscribers can also catch the new season, as well as Season 1, via the
Discovery app and
Discovery.ca.
*Interviews for DISASTERS AT SEA can be arranged by Rick Henriques.*
The real-life disasters investigated in Season 2 include:
“Queen of the North”
Sunday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
 |
Ship: Queen of the North
Type: Passenger Ferry
Date: March 21, 2006
Location: Wright Sound, B.C. |
When the Queen of the North passenger ferry runs into a rocky island off Canada’s west coast with 101 passengers on board, residents of the Gitga’at First Nation in Hartley Bay, B.C come to the rescue, saving all but two people. Faced with conflicting information from the crew, investigators must take extreme measures to determine the truth.
“The Arctic Rose Mystery”
Sunday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
 |
Ship: Arctic Rose
Type: Commercial Fishing Vessel, Trawler
Date: April 1, 2001
Location: Bering Sea, Alaska |
The catastrophic loss of fishing vessel Arctic Rose is made more mysterious by the fact that only the captain had time to put on his survival suit. Searching for answers, investigators send an ROV to survey the sunken wreck and uncover an intriguing clue that ignites controversy among their own ranks.
“Firefight”
Sunday, Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
 |
Ship: MS Norman Atlantic
Type: 610 ft. RORO Passenger Ferry
Date: December 28, 2014
Location: Strait of Otranto, Adriatic Sea |
A routine ferry trip turns deadly when the MS Norman Atlantic burst into flames, trapping more than 400 passengers on board and killing more than 30 people. Why did a modern passenger ferry catch fire? And why did the evacuation go so wrong?
“The Sinking of the Lady Mary”
Sunday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
 |
Ship: Lady Mary
Type: Commercial Fishing Vessel, Trawler and Scallop Dredger
Date: March 23, 2009
Location: Cape May, N.J. |
When a family-owned scallop vessel sinks in the middle of the night, even the lone survivor isn’t sure what happened. Investigators have two mysteries to solve: What sank the Lady Mary, and why did only one person live to tell the tale?
“Storm Watch”
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
 |
Ship: SS El Faro
Type: 791 ft. Container Ship
Date: October 1, 2015
Location: Atlantic Ocean, northeast of the Bahamas’ Acklins and Crooked Island |
The massive containership SS El Faro goes down just 20 miles from the eye of Hurricane Joaquin killing all 33 of the crew. With the shipwreck and all the evidence at the bottom of the sea, investigators must go to enormous lengths to recover the ship’s black box and find out what went wrong and why?
“Death on the Staten Island Ferry”
Sunday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
 |
Vessel Name: Andrew J. Barberi
Type: 310 ft. Passenger Ferry
Date: October 15, 2003
Location: Staten Island, N.Y. |
A routine trip on New York’s Staten Island ferry turns deadly when the ship slams into a pier at high speed, killing 11 people and injuring dozens more.
The biggest and most comprehensive partnership of its kind for Bell Media Studios’ Exploration Production Inc. (EPI),
DISASTERS AT SEA is produced in a purpose-built studio in Hamilton, Ont. and on-location throughout Canada and the U.S. The series, which recently wrapped post-production on Season 3, has been sold in more than 100 markets worldwide, including Eastern and Western Europe, as well as Australia (Channel 7), through international rights manager Exploration Distribution Inc. (EDI).
DISASTERS AT SEA is produced by Bell Media Studio’s Exploration Production Inc. (EPI) in association with Smithsonian Networks and Discovery Canada. Series Producer is Alix Macdonald. Executive Producer is Kelly McKeown, who is also Director of Production for EPI. Nanci MacLean is Vice-President, Bell Media Studios and President, Pinewood Toronto Studios. International distribution is led by Tony Leadman of Exploration Distribution Inc. For Discovery, Bruce Glawson is Executive Producer, Edwina Follows is General Manager, and Shawn Redmond is Vice-President, Discovery Networks and TSN. Mike Cosentino is President, Content and Programming, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Bell Media. For Smithsonian Channel, Tim Evans and David Royle are Executive Producers.
