Kaspar Heidelbach's two-part drama focuses on the 1957 sinking of the Pamir, a German sailing ship, from the angle of three crew members. After his wife's death, former sailor Acki Lüders decides to sign up on the Pamir, whose first officer is his good friend Hans Ewald. As Captain Ludwig Lewerenz's ways of treating and educating the young crew are very strict, the three men have an often strained relationship. When the shipping company puts pressure on Lewerenz after problems in Bueno Aires, he decides to sail although the ship isn't stable...