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Netherlands·Technology

Dutch navy frigate's location exposed by €5 Bluetooth tracker sent through military mail

Friday, 17 April 2026, 10:16 · 1 min read

A regional Dutch broadcaster, Omroep Gelderland, successfully tracked the real-time location of the HNLMS Evertsen — a Dutch air-defence frigate deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to help protect against Iranian attacks — by concealing a €5 Bluetooth tracker inside a postcard sent via the Dutch military postal service. The tracker was not detected by mail screening procedures, as only parcels are X-rayed and not envelopes, allowing journalists to follow the ship's route from Den Helder naval base to Crete and onward toward Cyprus before the device went offline. Defence Minister Yesilgöz informed parliament that the tracker posed no operational risk as the vessel was already being monitored during an exercise, but announced that procedures will be tightened — including a ban on greeting cards containing batteries — while security experts warned that the Netherlands must shift its mindset given current geopolitical tensions.

Sources
NOS NieuwsLocatie Nederlands marineschip kon achterhaald worden met bluetooth-tracker ↗︎
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