The Marine Corps is using two substitute ship classes to help the State Department evacuate people from conflict-ridden Sudan, which service leaders say is yet another reason the Navy should grant their request for more fast-deploying amphibious warships, U.S. Naval Institute News reported.
The Navy does not have enough ships to operate an aircraft carrier group or amphibious readiness group in the Middle East, leaving the Marine Corps scrambling to find alternatives for a sea-based evacuation route, according to USNI News. On Monday, the Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport (EFT) USNS Brunswick sailed about 300 people from the Port of Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as they seek to escape the fighting that began over a week ago between Sudan’s government and a powerful rebel militia group.