S/S "Styggen"

In a sweltering June afternoon on a bustling Norwegian harbor, the wooden houses and the clamor of steam‑driven vessels paint a vivid picture of early‑twentieth‑century coastal life. Captain Jonas Ratje, a weary sailor who has long escaped the priest’s watch, now commands the modest barge “Styggen,” while his silent, half‑Scandinavian companion Dick Darling handles the engine room with a steady, inscrutable hand. Their partnership, forged after a chance meeting over a derelict tug, immediately thrusts them into the gritty realities of a port teeming with merchants, electric ferries, and the endless hum of labor.

Together they turn the “Styggen” into a vessel of hard‑won survival, skirting the line between legitimate towing work and the shadowy world of low‑level piracy. Their reputation grows not from admiration but from a reputation for ruthless cleverness, as each learns to read the moods of rival crews and the fickle whims of harbor officials. On a day when a rival tug appears at their berth, Ratje’s simmering anger and Darling’s quiet resolve set the stage for a showdown that will test both their wits and their resolve.