She is currently chartered by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) for sea-rescue operations of refugees in the Mediterranean since June 2021.

[6] Her two decks have been adapted to create two separate accommodation sections for rescued perople: one for men, the other for women and children.

Geo Barents operated as a research vessel studying seismic oceanography from her launch in 2007 until 2021.

After sailing from Ålesund in Norway on 13 May 2021, on 10 June 2021 during the first of the ship's operations MSF made their first rescue of refugees from the sea.

During the last two years, due to bureaucratic blockages by the Italian government, it had spent some 160 days in port.