Plot Summary:Captain Harmsen and his chief engineer Kaiser are traveling from Algeria to Hamburg in the container ship "Anastasia", and are looking forward to a normal, relaxed voyage. Harmsen is in need of peace and quiet as it is # his wife has separated from him. Shortly after their departure from Algeria, however, the first problems start to loom: the ship is traveling too slowly. While Kaiser and an engineer named Droll are about to repair an oil pipe that seems to have been disconnected, a fire suddenly breaks out in the engine room. Kaiser and Droll manage to escape, but now the engines have stopped. There seems to be something strange going on up on deck. Meanwhile, in Hamburg, financial problems are forcing shipowner Nielson to sell shares in his shipping company to a businessman named Schröter, who shows great sympathy for the problems being experienced by the "Anastasia". The situation back on the ship becomes aggravated when Captain Harmsen suddenly discovers a group of Algerian ...