The
Providence, a heavily-indebted Scottish trawler, calls
in at a Belgian port. Once again, it has failed to
catch enough to pay the mortgage. At his wits’
end, Sean, the ship’s mate, meets a contact
about doing some smuggling. The contact, however,
doesn’t have any black market cigarettes. He’s
only got Chinese immigrants - all of whom have paid
to get to Britain.
In spite of his misgivings, Sean agrees to take the
passengers. He recruits Riley, a crewman, to help
him. There’s one person Sean doesn’t dare
tell, though - his father, the Skipper.
Whilst the skipper sleeps, the Chinese are hidden
down in the darkness of the hold. All but one of the
Chinese, that is. Su Li, a girl of 12, slips away
unnoticed below decks. Soon the slow-witted Cook notices
that food is disappearing from his galley. He begins
a covert quest to find the thief.
Back on deck, conflict is brewing between Sean and
Riley. As far as Sean is concerned, the Providence
can’t sail straight home without getting a good
catch first. Without any fish on board, coming from
a foreign port, the ship is sure to be searched and
the Chinese discovered. Riley had never though any
of this through – and his enthusiasm is rapidly
waning |
 |
Both the ship and the Skipper are old,
though - again and again the net comes up near empty.
Meanwhile, conditions in the hold are deteriorating
rapidly. Increasingly desperate, Riley and Sean work
themselves to exhaustion, even braving a storm in
an effort to get a catch. When one of the Chinese
dies in the hold, however, Riley breaks. He goes to
the Skipper and tells all.
The Skipper confronts his son. But Sean was only ever
trying to keep his father’s pride and ship afloat.
For the first time, the Skipper is forced to acknowledge
that he‘s only making a loss by staying at sea.
Broken, he gives the wheel to Sean, who turns for
home to face certain arrest. The Skipper will lose
his license, and the bank will foreclose on the boat.
But Sean has no choice: the Chinese cannot be allowed
to suffer more.
On the homeward journey, though, Sean picks up a
strong sonar signal. If he can land a catch, he’d
save both the Chinese and the ship. |