Aita Mari has rescued 78 people from the Mediterranean Sea. Despite not having the rescue permission of the Spanish Government, it was authorised by the governments of Italy and Malta to operate in the waters of these countries. In particular, the rescue has been carried out in the area of Malta. The Open Arms and Ocean Viking boats have also joined rescue tasks for two or three days, and hundreds of people have been picked up from the boats that were lost.

The rescued are people who have recently been evicted from Libya and rehoused. Father Mari is waiting for the berth permit. They say that they have not yet received any authorisation from either Italy or Malta.

Shortly after the rescue, they received a warning that there was another boat with 94 people on board, as reported in an interview in the Basque Country Irratia by Aita Mari Izaskun Arriaran. They didn't find the boat, and they all believed they had drowned to death.

When he sailed on 20 October, the tuna boat made a trip to Lesbos (Greece) to offer food and support to the refugees, according to that source.