An American millionaire has launched a private rescue mission in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to save the lives of a still-increasing number of refugees and migrants sailing from Turkey to Greece.

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (Moas), a charity founded and run by Chris Catrambone, an American entrepreneur, already runs a rescue mission off the coast of Libya, and will now operate a second boat in waters between the Turkish coastline and the Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos. The ship’s two speedboats will be named after the two Syrian children, Aylan and Galip Kurdi, whose deaths in early September sparked international outrage.

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Several hundred thousand refugees, mainly Syrian and Afghan, have crossed this stretch of the Aegean Sea this year, and a rising number are now drowning due to the stormier weather conditions. A record 3,460 migrants have died in the Mediterranean so far in 2015, roughly 450 of whom drowned in the Aegean, according to figures supplied by the UN refugee agency.

Explaining the decision, the charity’s director, Martin Xuereb, said: “As long as people are crossing for one reason or other, there needs to be an asset there that mitigates loss of life at sea. We’re not saying that saving lives will solve the issue of migration, we know it’s much more complex than that. But we’re there to look after the individuals or groups who feel they have no other option to take to boats whether it’s the central Mediterranean [north of Libya], or the Aegean.”

Moas’s decision to expand search-and-rescue operations comes on the day that EU leaders meet in Malta for the latest in a series of conferences about how to end migration to Europe. Xuereb said he hoped the existence of Moas, and the high level of donations it has received from the general public in recent months, will show European leaders there is a substantial level of public support for more humane responses to the crisis.

“I think what we have done is show that there is a section of people who do not want to be bystanders and do not want people to drown at sea,” said Xuereb, the former commander-in-chief of the Maltese army. “I’m not just talking about Moas, but the thousands of people who have supported us.”

Moas will also begin rescue missions off the coast of south-east Asia in the coming months. Doctors Without Borders also operates rescue missions in the southern Mediterranean.