When a valuable cargo ship is abandoned in the mid-Atlantic, Captain Barling of the S.S. Hopeful Enterprise has very special reasons for wishing to tow it into port. But is he justified in risking men's lives for the sake of his own desires? Shipmate Adam Loder thinks it is nothing but a wild goose chase and chief engineer Jonah Madden is worried about his ailing engines; but Charlie Wilson has a deeper worry that he is hiding.... However Barling has more than fearsome gales to contend with as a tenacious rival threatens his chances.