The organization chartered the Aquarius and more recently the Ocean Viking in order to rescue people fleeing by sea from Libya and who risk drowning.
[1] The group was founded in June 2015 by German former captain Klaus Vogel and Frenchwoman Sophie Beau after the Italian navy ended the rescue Operation Mare Nostrum in 2014.
In 2023, SOS Méditerranée was named as one of three laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, for "its life-saving humanitarian search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea".
Onboard microphones and cameras will make it possible to record everything that happens on board and around the boat, in order to prove, if necessary, that operations are carried out within a legal framework.
Its partner, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), contributed to the monthly costs for the Aquarius and staffed the medical team on board for four years; in 2020, two organizations formally separated, citing differences over the health crisis during Covid.