After failing to recover his investment in a crooked South African mining venture, ex-U.S. Navy officer Duncan Craig (Alan Ladd) signs on with an Antarctica-bound ice-breaker under Commander Bland. Faced with questions surrounding the suicide of her father, who was Bland's partner, Judie Nordahl (Joan Tetzel) has also booked passage on the ship in order to catch up with the Antarctic whaling fleet in search of answers. When Craig finds that Judie's ex-fiancé -- Bland's son, Erik -- was responsible for her father's demise, he's transferred to a whaler. But when Craig's ship is trapped in the Antarctic ice and then disabled after being rammed by Erik's vessel, the two men are left fighting it out among the ice floes.