Ben, a former Navy officer now works on a rig as the guy in charge, but since a lot of crew keeps dying whilst diving and planting the rig in the sea he needs men who are willing to take the risk. He gets in touch with an old friend from the Navy who works in a prison as sort of an diving training base and there Ben selects out the best to complete the task, but with superiors breathing down his neck, a camera crew now jumping on board and a deadline to meet he wants to finish the job and make sure the men stay alive, but not all things work out as he plans.

Auf dem Meer warten noch echt harte Jobs auf echt harte Kerle. Der Taucher Ben Laforche sucht Helfer, die in 1400 Meter Tiefe die Pipeline an eine Bohrinsel anschließen. Dafür stellt er eine Crew aus Schwerverbrechern auf. Das Projekt droht an technischen Schwierigkeiten und dem rücksichtslosen Chef J. C. Bush zu scheitern.

Cinque ex malviventi ronzano attorno a una piattaforma petrolifera al largo della costa sudamericana, le cose per loro cominciano però subito a mettersi nel peggiore dei modi.