The Death Boat tells the incredible adventures of a young English sailor who, after accidentally falling into the sea during a journey near the Cape of Good Hope, in the late eighteenth century, and after being abandoned by his companions, appalled at the sudden appearance of the legendary ghost ship «The Flying Dutchman», is finally picked up by its ghostly crew. On board the sinister ship, he will meet the unfortunate Captain Vanderdecken, who does not know that his journey has lasted more than one hundred and fifty years, and will fall in love with Imogene, a captive companion, with whom he plans to elope.