Dawn breaks on the high seas. The trawler Francisco y Catalina and her crew are hard at work fishing near the Maltese coast.

Elsewhere, a group of 51 people – bedraggled men, teenagers, and a young girl, desperate to escape the hardship of North Africa, huddle together on a raft bound for a better life in Spain – but their raft is totally inadequate for the journey, and they run into trouble.

Soon the Francisco y Catalina passes by the raft, and the crew discuss whether or not to intercede and save the lives of these strangers. The law of the sea dictates solidarity among sailors, and the crew opts to help the immigrants and bring them aboard.

However, politics get in the way of the crew’s noble gesture as Malta refuses to grant the boat people asylum – and consequently the trawler is stranded 20 kilometres from the port, not allowed to dock on Spanish ground.

While European governments argue over a solution, the crew and victims on the Francisco y Catalina and the crew’s families at home in Spain anxiously await the outcome.