Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie, one of the ships on the popular Deadliest Catch series, has passed away after suffering from a stroke on Jan. 30th.

It has been confirmed that Capt. Harris passed away on during the evening of Feb. 9th at the age of 53.

Capt. Harris had suffered a stroke on Jan. 30th while the Cornelia Marie was off loading a load of Opilio crabs in St. Paul.  He was taken to the local medical center, and was later flown out to Anchorage by medevac.  He had undergone surgery, but put into a medically induced coma and eventually came out of it to look like he was making progress.  Sadly it seems he unexpectedly took a turn for the worse and passed away.

Capt. Harris’ two sons, Jake and Josh, released the following statement to the Cornelia Maria Web site:

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad – Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end. For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down. We will remember and celebrate that strength. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. – Jake and Josh Harris

Discovery channel has also made an official statement:

Discovery mourns the loss of dear friend and colleague Captain Phil Harris. He was more than someone on our television screen. Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him. We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart. We share our tremendous sadness over this loss with the millions of viewers who followed Phil’s every move. We send our thoughts and prayers to Phil’s sons Josh and Jake and the Cornelia Marie crew.

Capt. Harris had suffered health problems over the past two seasons of the popular television series, but it is doubtful anyone saw this coming.

My deepest condolences to the entire Harris family and the crew of the Cornelia Marie.