Plot

Third Officer Tom Merriam accuses Captain Will Stone of being a homicidal maniac, but no one believes him.

Tom Merriam signs on the ship Altair as third officer under Captain Stone. At first things look good, Stone sees Merriam as a younger version of himself and Merriam sees Stone as the first adult to ever treat him as a friend. But after a couple strange deaths of crew members, Merriam begins to think Stone is a psychopathic madman obsessed with authority. He tries to tell others, but no one believes him, and it only makes Stone angry..—Ken Yousten <kyousten@bev.net>

Never having met in person, Captain Will Stone of the S.S. Altair hires Tom Merriam as the freighter's new Third Officer based solely on his qualifications, Merriam in turn honored to accept what is his first appointment fresh out of school. Merriam welcomes the opportunity to learn from a man he admires from what little he can see of the Captain, who has very particular views about his role of authority in relation to the crew, including the subordinate officers. That admiration by Merriam turns to disgust and fear for himself, the other officers and crew as he believes the Captain's views extend to he being God over everyone else aboard and that the crew in particular are a bunch of unmotivated men who will listen to him solely because he is Captain, that fear more founded when he believes a death aboard ship is pure unadulterated murder orchestrated by the Captain of someone he didn't like. A standoff of sorts occurs as the Captain becomes well aware of Merriam's feelings as Merriam tries to convince others, including those he considers friends but who are subordinates of the Captain, that the Captain is crazy. Merriam has to do so before the Captain kills again, Merriam the most likely next target if he is to be believed.—Huggo

The film opens with a burial at sea as we go inside the mind of a mute sea hand who looks at the camera and in voice over tells us that this is a ghost ship and that death will continue. As we are introduced to Tom Merriam (Russell Wade) 3rd Officer of a ship being hired by Captain Will Stone (Richard Dix) who imparts some fatherly philosophy about camaraderie onboard ship and the community of men that needs to work under a guiding leader. As their schedule starts, unusual things begin happening onboard that appear dangerous. When crew deaths begin Tom becomes suspicious and confronts Captain Stone who tells him that he has indeed caused the deaths of some of his crew because the men were disrespectful. When Tom has the Captain brought up on official charges, he is expelled from the ship. But when an unusual turn of fate lands him back on board he finds that the rest of the crew shuns him and will not help him as he pleads for his life as he is threatened by the Captain. Tom finds that he is clearly in danger with no one to turn to for help as the Captain closes in for the kill.