SOS MEDITERRANEE is an international humanitarian organization dedicated to saving lives at sea. Founded in 2015, the initiative emerged as a response to the escalating humanitarian crisis in the Central Mediterranean, and the lack of adequate state rescue capacity on the deadliest maritime migratory route in the world. Created by a group of European citizens, our maritime and humanitarian organization has three missions:

1. To rescue people in distress at sea
2. To protect and assist survivors on board our ship
3. To bear witness and raise awareness of the tragedy unfolding in the central
Mediterranean.

Today, SOS MEDITERRANEE is a network composed of four European entities (Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland) sharing the objective to support our rescue operations at sea. Search and Rescue (SAR) operations have been carried out since February 2016 in the Central Mediterranean off the Libyan coasts with the chartered ships Aquarius and Ocean Viking. To date, over 39,000 people have been rescued by SOS MEDITERRANEE.