Opsec oopsie: Dutch navy frigate location outed by mailing it a Bluetooth tracker

The Register (UK) ^ | Fri 17 Apr 2026 | Brandon Vigliarolo

[Salman]

Militaries around the world spend countless hours training, developing policies, and implementing best operational security practices, so imagine the size of the egg on the face of the Dutch navy when journalists managed to track one of its warships for less than the cost of some hagelslag and a coffee.

The security snafu was reported by Dutch regional broadcaster Omroep Gelderland. In a Thursday report, Omroep Gelderland journalist Just Vervaart said the broadcaster was able to track HNLMS Evertsen, a Dutch air-defense frigate deployed to help protect France’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle against missile threats, by mailing a Bluetooth tracker concealed in a postcard to the ship.

Per Vervaart, the Dutch Ministry of Defence makes it easy to send mail and packages to soldiers and sailors in the Dutch armed forces and posts full instructions online. It's that freely available open-source intelligence data that Vervaart was able to use to send the tracker to the Evertsen.

The report says the tracker remained active for about 24 hours, showing HNLMS Evertsen leaving port in Heraklion, Crete, and sailing first west along the island’s coast before turning east toward Cyprus. The tracker finally went offline a day later when the ship was near Cyprus, and hasn't come back online.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: netherlands

[Salman]

IMO, this story also has relevance for individual security.
Or is that dead anyway?

[BenLurkin]

Omroep

[Skywise]

I couldn’t figure out what “bluetooth tracker” could possibly have that range until I realized they used an Apple AirTag which pings its location to nearby iPhones which relay that info to the iCloud service.

Gentlemen, this is a symptom of a much bigger problem.

[Mathews]

EVERYONE has cell phones these days, so EVERYONE can be tracked. If a ship hits port or is close enough for towers to ping a sailor’s cell phone, people will know where they are. We tracked our oldest from stateside while he was touring Europe with a free app.

[montag813]

An air tag can’t fit into the space of a postcard. There are Tile trackers that are that thin.

[rlmorel]

In 2023 during the Biden Administration and peak woke in the Navy, Grisel Marrero, a command senior chief aboard the USS Manchester, was relieved of her duties and demoted for installing an unauthorized Starlink Wi-Fi system on the USS Manchester and lying about it to her commanding officer. She was found guilty of dereliction of duty and providing false statements during a court-martial.

And this was the Commanding officer:

This was the ship involved:

And here is where they tried to deliberately hide the system so it wouldn't be found:

She was relieved of her duties and demoted due to her involvement in installing an unauthorized Starlink Wi-Fi system on the USS Manchester. This incident raised significant concerns regarding operational security and leadership accountability within the Navy.

Marrero conspired with fourteen other Navy chiefs to set up a Starlink satellite dish on the USS Manchester, which was used for personal entertainment, including checking sports scores and streaming movies. When her commanding officer (also a female) asked her directly, she lied to her commanding officer about the existence of the network, denying it multiple times and disguising it as a printer to avoid detection. Marrero was demoted from senior chief petty officer to chief petty officer after being found guilty of dereliction of duty and providing false official statements during a court-martial. The unauthorized Wi-Fi system posed serious risks to the ship's operational security, as it was not shared with rank-and-file sailors, who typically have limited internet access during deployments.

I was appalled that this protected species above was only relieved of duties and was demoted for what she did. She should have been discharged with a less than honorable status. This whole incident was shameful, and in a hostile environment, could have resulted in the loss of the ship to enemy action who would have been able to track it.

[Salvavida]

I remember that too. She got off very light. This was not a mere reduction of one rank violation. She needed the Big Chicken Dinner (BCD) at a minimum.

[Dr. Sivana]

Omroep

Maybe it unjumbes at "MOOPER" . . . or "POOMER"

[NorthMountain]

Gentlemen, this is a symptom of a much bigger problem.

Indeed ... a warship should not have unsecured internet access.

[rlmorel]

I found the punishment shameful. Lie to your Commanding Officer straight up?

How the HELL does that not result in a less than honorable discharge? This bothered me for some time,

[NorthMountain]

Marrero was demoted from senior chief petty officer to chief petty officer

Should have been demoted to E1, then kicked out with a dishonorable discharge. And much as nobody actually wants to see it ... publicly stripped of her uniform.

[Skywise]

I doubt it was a Tile Tracker because they require a specific app be running on the phone to relay the information. It could’ve also been a Google Find My Device tag, too. Both come in a “card” form that would easily fit into a letter. But I’ve also sent “battery operated cards” with lights and music for Christmas/Birthdays and some of them have batteries and chips that are just as bulky as AirTags.

[higgmeister]

This reads like espionage.   A Command Senior Chief Petty Officer who had been a IT, had to know all about Signals Intelligence (SIGINT).

Marrero’s background is in Navy intelligence, and she earned a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in information security and digital management, according to her biography.

The investigation notes that she should have known better.

“Her time in service and specialized training makes it clear the member knew or should have known the risks associated with an unauthorized Wi-Fi system,” the investigation states.

[Salvavida]

If it was a male sailor.....he’d still be in Leavenworth.

[rlmorel]

This demonstrates why I am wholly opposed to DEI and Affirmative Action in the military. By its very nature, those things inherently are diametrically opposed to competency and merit.

Put aside that she was a Command Senior Chief on that vessel, a top leadership position. Put aside that she had a “degree” that concentrated in information security. Put aside that she was a member of the US Military.

In the civilian world, it is bad enough that someone like her could rise to an executive position. It would be bad enough that she could endanger the well being of her company’s reputation with her incompetence. It would be bad enough that she could, through her incompetence, release the personal and financial information to malicious entities. It would be bad enough that she would lie to her CEO.

But in all these things, the damage might well be limited to that civilian company, their reputation could be destroyed, and their customer base made vulnerable to financial loss or exploitation.

But in the military world, the damage caused by someone like Marrero, who was selected for her leadership slot because she was a female and a hispanic, could result in the loss of crew, the ship, a task force, a battle, and even a war. People would say “Oh, this could be caused by someone NOT selected because of their sex, skin color, or ethnicity.”

True. But that failure isn’t due to a government mandate or law. It would be due to a failure in judgement, something that is an equal opportunity bear trap for all humans. I liken it to a crime committed by an illegal invader into this country. Sure, Americans are complicit in many crimes too. But that particular crime by an illegal invader didn’t have to happen because that person should never have been in a position to commit that crime.

This is why I have been so gung ho for Pete Hegseth since I first read his book after his name was being floated for nomination. He gets how dangerous and insidiously corrosive DEI and Affirmative Action are.

As a society we have made the decision already to have female minority firefighters or police, and to have quotas to get them into positions regardless of their competency. We have made the decision, for better or worse, to sacrifice citizen safety to advance these causes of advancing females or minorities. I say unequivocally “for worse” but that is my call, and the government has decided otherwise.

We should never allow them to make those kinds of “decisions” in the military, but even now, that barn door has been already opened.

[higgmeister]

All that you say and more.

[montag813]

I was appalled that this protected species above was only relieved of duties and was demoted for what she did. She should have been discharged with a less than honorable status. This whole incident was shameful, and in a hostile environment, could have resulted in the loss of the ship to enemy action who would have been able to track it.

This is insane! I had absolutely no idea this happened. We need to make Trump aware of this creature on X or Truth Social so he can delete her from the Navy ASAP. And what about her co-conspirators?

[PIF]

Quite a feat sine the range of the very best Bluetooth tracker is 500 feet ...

[gunnut]

There are several AirTag compatible thin cards on the market.

[Svartalfiar]

. The unauthorized Wi-Fi system posed serious risks to the ship's operational security, as it was not shared with rank-and-file sailors, who typically have limited internet access during deployments.

Wait, what? If she had shared it with everyone, it wouldn't have hurt opsec? How does that make sense?