SOS MEDITERRANEE

SOS MEDITERRANEE is a civil European association for rescue at sea founded in 2015. Facing the humanitarian tragedy and the lack of adequate rescue capacity in the Mediterranean on the deadliest migratory route in the world, a group of European citizens created a maritime and humanitarian association in order to: rescue the persons in distress at sea, protect and assist them, as well as testify about the realities of migration. Today, SOS MEDITERRANEE is a network composed of four national associations (Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland) sharing the same mandate. Search and Rescue (SAR) operations have been carried out since February 2016 in the Central Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, first with the ship Aquarius, and since July 2019 with the Ocean Viking. In total we rescued 31,618 people. Today, the annual cost of the rescue mission is around 7 M€ and is financed mostly by private donations.