You might think that, with a pandemic raging around the globe, submariners on long-range undersea missions would be the safest people on the planet.
But not even nuclear submarines offer any protection from coronavirus. The Dutch navy submarine HNLMS Dolfijn has been called back to base this week because eight of the crew have tested positive for the virus and, according to reports from The Barents Observer, a Russian nuclear submarine – the Oscar-II class cruise missile boat Orel – is being quarantined after crew members came into contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case.
HNLMS Dolfijn had been due to take part in a large NATO exercise taking place in the Atlantic this week. The Dutch navy submarine sailed up the Clyde for the first stage