In the Bering Sea, Bennkah, the largest oil tanker ever built, newly commissioned in Vladivostok, Russia, is on a secret mission. On this maiden voyage, Captain Borodin is at the helm. He is the only one aboard aware of the mission. Soon an engineer discovers a defect seemingly minor, but one with disastrous potential. Despite his attempts to correct the problem, a fire erupts, contained at first, then rapidly spreads out of control, consuming the behemoth ship. A Mayday call alerts Sonny Wade some two hundred miles from the burning ship. This could be the lifeline that Sonny and his ragtag crew need to save their failing salvage business. But Dan Sharp, Sonny s nemesis and former employer the owner of the largest salvage business in northern Alaska also hears the call. A brutal race is on to claim the burning ship before it sinks or runs aground, contaminating the entire north Pacific Rim and not only with oil.