Global SAR Hub at the 2026 Global SAR Excellence Awards

Global SAR Hub took part in the 2026 Global Search and Rescue Excellence Awards, held on 15 May at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London. The company's co-founder and maritime SAR expert Tanguy Le Coq represented Global SAR Hub at the ceremony.

Organised by Fire Knowledge and FIRE magazine alongside the Institute of Search and Technical Rescue (InSTR), the Global SAR Excellence Awards bring together the international search and rescue community across its maritime, aeronautical, land, technical and volunteer disciplines. Such gatherings remain rare in a sector where each discipline tends to operate within its own networks, which is precisely what makes them valuable.

Global SAR Hub had been shortlisted for the Innovator of the Year award, its third nomination in a row. The award went this year to Mike Spencer of Hampshire Constabulary. The recognition did not change the company's direction, and the trajectory of three consecutive nominations reflects a sustained focus on operational tools built by SAR professionals for SAR professionals.

Beyond the ceremony, the day was an opportunity to advance long-standing relationships. Tanguy Le Coq held an in-person meeting with Robin van Bruggen of Emhance International Responder Development, one of Global SAR Hub's earliest partners, and spent time with Mags Kelly on the ongoing subject of improving land search and rescue coordination. Coordination across agencies and disciplines sits at the heart of Global SAR Hub's work, and is the founding principle behind SARCHAT, its operational command platform for inter-agency and international SAR cooperation.

The awards also recognised excellence across the wider community. Rescue International, represented by Humberto Hinestrosa, won Supporter of the Year. Other winners included Land Search and Rescue New Zealand for Community Engagement, AKUT Search and Rescue Association as Voluntary Organisation of the Year, SARAID for Team of the Year, the Valais Cantonal Rescue Organisation for Search and Rescue Mission of the Year, the HM Coastguard SAR helicopter crew at Prestwick for Technical Rescue of the Year, and Leslie Coe of Walmer RNLI Lifeboat Station for Lifetime Achievement.

For Global SAR Hub, the value of the occasion was less about the result than the room. Recognising lifesaving excellence and connecting the people who deliver it, across borders and disciplines, is how a fragmented sector becomes a community. The work continues.