Deadly Voyage

Six stowaways burst from a container as MC Ruby is docked in New York, triggering immediate detainment by dock workers and the NYPD. The Ukrainian crew watches with bemused detachment, but the ship's captain and Ion Plesin are furious at the disruption and the prospect of crippling fines for the company.

Andreas Vlachos arrives to oversee future operations and warn of fines. The crew and officers react with tension, knowing that any further illegality could cost them their jobs and harm the company.

In the port of Accra, Kingsley Ofosu wins a lottery and decides that the time is right to pursue a better life in the United States. He believes the prize money will help him and his wife start anew on arrival. He resolves to stow away aboard the MC Ruby to secure passage.

Ofosu, his brother, and six other men slip aboard and hide in the cargo holds as the ship resumes its voyage. Their presence remains hidden for now, even as the crew works to keep to a tight schedule.

With the ship behind schedule, Captain Ion Plesin orders a one-hour, high-pressure stowaway search before departure. The frantic sweep is rushed and fails to locate Ofosu’s group.

The Ghana group encounters another stowaway who boarded in Cameroon and exchange dreams of life in the United States. Their water container breaks, forcing them to leave the cargo area to forage for water, and they leave traces that the crew can later find.

To avoid Vlachos learning that the initial search had failed, the captain orders Plesin to assemble a secret team to search again. The plan is to keep the problem hidden at all costs.

The secret search locates the stowaways and the captain and Plesin decide to hide them in the ship's anchor hold with no food or water. They justify it as a temporary measure to prevent fines and exposure, despite the human cost.

Yuri, one of Plesin's men, secretly delivers a little water to the detainees, but cannot do more without risking punishment. Ofosu laments that they have been driven to such a brutal necessity as they endure the growing deprivation.

The captain agrees to Plesin's plan to murder the stowaways rather than risk discovery and fines. The team begins moving the victims and enacting the killings as they try to cover their tracks.

Yuri attempts to intervene but is overpowered as the killings proceed. The team systematically murders the stowaways and throws their bodies overboard, the crew focusing on survival and avoidance of accountability.

Ofosu and his brother are the last two to be brought out; they realize what is coming and split up, sprinting in opposite directions. The brother is shot and thrown overboard, while Ofosu hides in the main cargo hold and tucks a photo of himself and his wife into a cocoa sack.

The ship docks in France, and Ofosu manages to escape to shore and reach the police before Plesin's men can seize him. His escape provides the authorities with a crucial lead to the stowaway killings.

French authorities board the MC Ruby to investigate Ofosu's account. Plesin denies the existence of stowaways, but a photo found in a cocoa sack confirms the killings. The police arrest the captain, first mate, and several crew members, with varying sentences for the rest.

On the phone with his wife, Ofosu hears the cries of his newborn son and pledges to name him after his brother. The epilogue notes the convictions: the captain and first mate receive life sentences, three other crew members receive twenty-year terms, and one is acquitted. Kingsley Ofosu remains in France, hopeful that his wife and child will join him.