The film opens on the fictional island of Svardlov in the far North Sea above the Soviet Union where an American spy breaks into an old mine where he discovers the frozen body of a US Army sergeant and mining expert Jake Hobart. Next to the frozen corpse is a newspaper from 1912 as well as some mining tools from the early part of the 20th Century. Using a radiation meter, the spy discovers that what he seeks, an extremely rare mineral named byzanium was there but has been mined out leaving only traces. He is then chased and shot by Soviet forces but rescued at the last moment by Dirk Pitt (Richard Jordan) a former U.S. Navy officer and a clandestine operator.
In the Arctic waters near the Helheim Glacier in Greenland, a person is surfing on waves created by falling chunks of ice that fall off the glacier and into the ocean caused by the effects of global warming. However, a very large chunk of ice falls into the water, creating an especially large wave. The surfer tries to escape from the wave, but it is far too fast for him, and in a matter of seconds, it catches up to him then drowns and kills him instantly.
This movie begins on a White Star Line chartered boat train, boarding passengers to the RMS Titanic. A poor girl named Angelica, treated as a servant by her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters, dreams of finding both love and her missing mother, with only a blue locket as a clue to the mother's identity. At the same time, an upper-class English man named William boards with his nanny who laments the loss of her daughter years ago, as well as his secretary Gaston. Other passengers include the gold-digging Winnie, a failing banker named Jeremy McFlannel, a jewel thief named Corynthia Meanstreak, her two henchmen Kirk and Dirk, a detective named Sam Bradbury who has been sent to pursue them and Molly, a gorgeous singer. Also boarding in the cargo hold are a group of animals, including a family of Yiddish mice, some geese, a dog named Fritz, a magpie named Hector, and a band of Mexican mice. Throughout the voyage, the various passengers meet and interact. William and Angelica fall in love at first sight, while Winnie and Jeremy fall for each other after Winnie's dog Flopsy trips him. Gaston meanwhile attempts to woo Molly with Angelica's locket, which he found after she unknowingly dropped it. Sam goes undercover to find Cornynthia while Kirk and Dirk make several unsuccessful attempts to steal jewelry from Winnie, but are foiled by her dog.