The Royal Canadian Navy has confirmed that a sailor who died after a small military boat capsized near Halifax last Friday was a Newfoundlander.

Thirty-eight-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Greg Applin, a crew member of HMCS Montreal, was one of two sailors in a small inflatable boat that capsized while heading back to shore.

The other sailor survived, but Applin could not be revived and passed away in hospital.

Applin was originally from Shoal Cove West on the Northern Peninsula. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 2005, and sailed nearly 500 days, and joined the crew of HMCS Montreal in 2024 during Operation HORIZON in the Indo-Pacific.

An investigation is now underway. Military officials indicate the probe into what went wrong could take years.

All flags at provincial government buildings are flying at half-mast in light of Applin’s passing.