In the fall of 2013, more than 500 African migrants crammed together on a 20-meter boat with the hope of reaching the Italian island of Lampedusa. Many never did.

The boat caught fire and sank, and more than half the migrants aboard, some of whom were children, died.

The Lampedusa boat sinking made international headlines, and although the scene has become all too familiar off African coasts — in 2014 more than 3,000 prospective migrants died at sea — the catastrophe was a wake-up call for multi-millionaire businessman Christopher Catrambone.

Catrambone himself is a migrant. He transplanted his family from Louisiana to the Mediterranean island of Malta after Hurricane Katrina devastated his home in 2005.

See also: The Deadly Mediterranean Crossing That Migrants Risk Every Day

But the similarities between Catrambone and the thousands of north African migrants who attempt to flee conflict zones by sea every year ends about there.

At the time of the Lampedusa sinking, Catrambone had been on a cruise, hopping on and off the most beautiful beaches in the world.

"But halfway to the island of Lampedusa we saw a jacket floating in the water," he told NBC News last fall.

"That really hit home with us. We thought, 'How can we go to have fun on these beautiful beaches when bodies of migrants are washing up ashore on them?'"

To answer that question, Catrambone's family poured almost half of their personal wealth — $7.5 million — to create a rescue operation for migrants in the Mediterranean sea.

Catrambone and his wife Regina first purchased a full scale marine vessel, equipping the boat with the latest technologies and an infirmary. They also acquired two camera drones, two inflatable boats, and hired a well-trained staff of navy personnel, led by Malta's former Chief of Defense's Brigadier Martin Xuereb.

One of the two MOAS drones, a Schiebel camcopter on deck of marine vessel Phoenix. Image: moas.eu MOAS.eu

After months of preparation, Migrant Offshore Aid Station, or MOAS, was ready for service in August 2014.

"The crossings to Europe are organized by criminal gangs," according to the MOAS website. "Migrants are placed on rickety vessels with few resources, in the hope they will be rescued by authorities before they dehydrate or drown."

During its first 60-day excursion, the crew used drones to keep an eye out for at-risk vessels, assisting in the rescue of almost 3,000 migrants.

"In one case, the boat was taking in water before we arrived," MOAS Press Officer Christian Peregin told Mashable via email. "If we had not got there in time, there's a very good chance that it would have resulted in a major tragedy."

The youngest person saved, Peregin said, was a two-day old baby.

As a privately funded search and rescue operation, MOAS can only do so much. Migrant crossing figures are rising drastically. In 2014, 207,000 African migrants made the journey to Europe, compared to 70,000 three years prior.

And numbers are expected to rise this year. In a blog post last month, Catrambone mentioned that up to 400 migrant deaths have occurred in 2015 thus far. This time last year, that number was only 27.

Last year about half of the rescued migrants were escaping the Syrian conflict, Peregin said. "These were men, women and children of all ages and backgrounds including doctors, lawyers, engineers and pensioners."

As families become increasingly desperate to escape conflict zones — Peregin said some migrants sell all of their possessions for space on a rickety boat — the response of the international community has been lacking. After the Lampedusa boat sinking in October 2013, Italy formed a rescue mission called Mare Nostrum, but shuttered operations only a year later.

"Our fear is that 2015 is going to be the deadliest year ever for migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, so we would like to be at sea as early as possible," Peregin said. "There are fewer search and rescue operations than usual because Italy's Mare Nostrum operation is no longer active."

Right now, as MOAS is gearing up for a busy summer, the need for aid increases. The operation accepts donations on their website.