Captain Harris Arlen McCoy, master mariner, passed away peacefully on 7 Oct. 2025. He was 87 years old.
His son Harris McCoy Jr. described his father as a legend.
“My father was an extraordinary person and a Caymanian that made waves internationally with a career that spanned 60 years,” he said. “He was the most accomplished master mariner Cayman ever produced, a fellow of the Nautical Institute and with qualifications that fill three binders. Yet he was so humble, kind and generous.”
McCoy was the son of the late Harris and Janet (Miss Nettie) McCoy and was born in North Side, Grand Cayman on 4 Sept. 1938.
In 1956, at the age of 17, he started his career at sea as a mess boy on the SS Percy Jordan in Philadelphia. In 1959, he attended the Merchant Marine School of the Seaman’s Church Institute in New York and obtained his third mate’s licence.
By 1960, Harris McCoy was captain of the JLewis, transporting bauxite from Jamaica to Montreal. That same year he married Virginia Ebanks, also from North Side, who at the time was studying nursing at the University of the West Indies.
Virginia McCoy, who preceded him in death, went on to become the North Side district postmistress and they had three children: Harris McCoy Jr, Juliet McCoy and Audrey Roe.
McCoy made his career moves with great care and strategy, moving through the international shipping world serving in professional officers’ positions on the SS Ore Titan, as well as ships of the West India Line, National Bulk Carriers and Caribbean Steamship companies.
In 1965, he received his master mariner’s licence, eventually commanding ships all over the world, from the Persian Gulf to Northern Europe to Brazil and Australia.
From 1969 to 1970 McCoy lived in Germany while the S.S. David P. Reynolds was being constructed. He then sailed on this ship on her maiden voyage as chief officer. During the era of the ‘Titans of Shipping’, McCoy commanded large commercial fleets serving multi-billion-dollar international commercial interests.
In the late 1970s, McCoy was working on supertankers, sailing throughout the world from the Persian Gulf to Northern Europe, Korea, Brazil and Japan.
The supertanker is regarded as the pinnacle of the seaman’s career, as it requires a great deal of skill to handle the technical complexities, international regulations and responsibilities that are required to control such large ships.
The early 1990s saw McCoy take another exciting and challenging career move as a senior chief mooring master in the petroleum industry. This job saw him moving to locations in Houston, Singapore, Australia and the Middle East, where he was responsible for the transshipment of billions of barrels of oil from one supertanker to another.
When he returned to his home in North Side, he enjoyed time with his family and farming. He was a strong supporter of several charities including the McCoy Prize for the arts.
During the quincentennial celebrations in 2003, McCoy was declared the ‘National Quincentennial Seafarers Ambassador’.
In 2021, McCoy was also recognised on National Heroes Day, which focused on honouring seafarers and the Cayman Islands maritime heritage.
At the time, Cayman Maritime noted that Caymanians seafarers, like McCoy, “became renowned worldwide for their skills, with attributes of resilience, perseverance, an aptitude for hard work, independence and a spirit of entrepreneurship that made us who we are today”.
He was the only Caymanian to sit the local exam and have his master mariner’s licensc endorsed by the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry, and he was one of the last of the Caymanian master mariners still working on ships as a mariner until the 2000s.
President of the Cayman Islands Seafarer’s Association, Denniston Tibbetts said, “On behalf of the members of the Cayman Islands Seafarer’s Association we want to offer sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of the late Captain Harris Arlen McCoy. May his soul rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon him.”
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He was a truly remarkable person. One of a kind. Condolences to the family.
RIP Capt. Harris McCoy and condolences to the family.
Capt. Harris personified the abilities and work ethic of generations of people who made Caymanians succeed in the mid-century international merchant shipping industry.
Perhaps one of the last of Caymanian masters, his is a proud legacy for our islands.