A Dutch journalist managed to track the Charles-de-Gaulle by sending a Bluetooth tracker on a naval mail

The exact position of the Charles-de-Gaulle is normally a well-kept secret of the French Navy, with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier being the flagship of French defense. However, the ship has been located for the second time in a few weeks by journalists. At the end of March, Le Monde revealed its GPS position thanks to an imprudent officer who recorded his jogs on board using the Strava application.

This time, a Dutch media outlet succeeded in a different manner. A journalist from Omroep Gelderland wanted to test the security of his country’s Navy by attempting to track the Evertsen, a Dutch warship escorting the Charles-de-Gaulle, reports BFMTV.

A flaw in the mail service

He chose to use the postal service of the Netherlands Navy to send a Bluetooth tracker on board. This service allows sailors at sea to communicate with their loved ones. The cost of the operation is minimal: a tracker for five euros, an envelope, and two stamps. As the journalist suspected, his tracker made it to the Evertsen. While packages are checked by the Ministry of Defense’s X-ray machines before being sent on board, this is not the case for envelopes.

This loophole allowed the Dutch journalist to pinpoint the Evertsen, and consequently the Charles-de-Gaulle, in mid-March in the eastern Mediterranean. The French aircraft carrier had been deployed urgently to “ensure the defense of Cyprus” a few days after the start of the war in the Middle East. Omroep Gelderland did not reveal any sensitive information, but still detailed the boat’s journey along the coasts of Crete towards the port of Heraklion, Greece.

The tracker reportedly was discovered 24 hours after its arrival during mail sorting on board. But by then, it was too late. After the article was published, the Dutch government assured that measures had been taken to prevent such a breach from happening again.