Lebanon, NH – April 24, 2023 – Former Navy SEALs and other military special forces veterans are actively assisting and coordinating extractions for travelers caught in war-torn Sudan. Security operations experts for Global Rescue, the leading security and medical evacuation and travel risk management services company, are in direct contact with stranded travelers.  

Global Rescue coordinated the maritime extraction of several people to Egypt, a 600-mile journey along the Red Sea. “We moved quickly to advise people in Port Sudan to depart the country immediately. We successfully extracted multiple western tourists from the region, who were initially reluctant to leave. They were advised to depart at once, before the fighting spread to Port Sudan- at which time movement would be nearly impossible,” said Harding Bush, former Navy SEAL and the senior manager of security operations for Global Rescue.  

Highlights: 

  • Global Rescue members were on a fishing vacation off the coast of the Port of Sudan when violent civil conflict broke out prompting them to contact Global Rescue Operations. 
  • Expert Global Rescue security personnel informed the members of the dangerous circumstances, yet they were reluctant to grasp the gravity of the situation and wanted to continue their fishing adventure. 
  • Global Recue intelligence and security experts reiterated the widespread violence, its likelihood to escalate, the closed airports and restricted airspace, the narrowing window to escape the country overland, and strongly advised the members to leave immediately. 
  • The members agreed but then admitted that their passports were not with them and were, instead, held by the charter company in Port Sudan. Knowing it was imperative to retrieve the members’ passports before they could leave Sudan and gain entry to another country, Global Rescue operations experts utilized local, Sudanese resources onboard the fishing boat to return to the port, disembark, recover the passports and safely return the passports to the members. 
  • Global Rescue security and intelligence experts planned and advised the execution of a 600-mile maritime extraction of the members to Egypt along the Red Sea. Global Rescue, working with a partner, secured a different, larger sea vessel capable of making the journey.  

“People in Sudan were advised to shelter-in –place as street fighting and attacks on the airport are preventing the use of overland and aviation departures. We’re tracking their movements and providing immediate security advisory services throughout the ordeal,” said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue and a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce.    

Travelers in the region for leisure and business were suddenly trapped when widespread fighting erupted between warring factions and quickly spread to the capital city and the airport, shutting down flights in and out. Bush and his Global Rescue team of former military special forces veterans are experts in medical and security operations. They are providing extensive logistic, rescue, extraction and advisory services and guidance where needed for people trapped in areas where fighting is present and other areas of Sudan. 

“The two rival Sudanese armies are driving the country toward a full-blown civil war. Sudan and adjacent regions are unpredictable and potentially more dangerous. While the U.S. and European embassies are evacuating staff, American and European business and leisure travelers are at tremendous risk of being left behind if they do not have access to professional assistance,” Richards said.   

When Russia invaded Ukraine, travelers quickly learned they needed to add emergency evacuation plans that include the ability to extract clients from a country if conditions become dangerous. “We see similar scenarios playing out in Sudan,” Richards said. 

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Contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or 202.560.1195 (phone/text) for more information.   

About Global Rescue   

Global Rescue is the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services to enterprises, governments and individuals. Founded in 2004, Global Rescue has exclusive relationships with the Johns Hopkins Emergency Medicine Division of Special Operations and Elite Medical Group. Global Rescue provides best-in-class services that identify, monitor and respond to client medical and security crises. Global Rescue has provided medical and security support to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, governments and academic institutions, during every globally significant crisis of the last two decades. For more information, visit www.globalrescue.com.