Bill Rafferty and Jed Graves, rival first mates on the Batson freighter line, come into open conflict when they fall in love with the same girl, Helen Lorber, a cafe entertainer in Havana. When Bill offers to take Helen to Rio aboard his ship, she accepts and leaves her job; but, unexpectedly, Bill is made captain of another freighter and maliciously chooses Jed as his mate. Unwilling to risk taking a woman aboard, Bill calls off his offer, and Helen angrily appeals to Jed, who smuggles her into a cabin. Disaster is narrowly avoided when the ship collides with another vessel in the dense fog; and Bill is relieved of command for neglect of duty, while Jed takes his place and beats him in a fight. Helen goes with Bill, and he furiously blames her for the loss of his command; he ships on a tramp steamer bound for Rio and guides it through a tropical storm in a drunken state; when Jed's ship sends up a distress signal, Bill goes to his aid with the steamer. For his heroism, Bill is restored to his command, and realizing that Helen has stood by him, giving up her chance to go to Rio, he is happily reunited with her.