At dusk, Russian and Chinese crewmen play backgammon on the deck. The Zaidan has been damaged for several months, and the owner will not take responsibility for its repair. Meanwhile, the crewmen continue operations by trying to repair the ship as if this were a temporary situation.After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, its enormous fleet of fishing ships and crews were abandoned at different ports around the world; the port of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands had the largest number of ships left there. A sailor who abandons his ship loses the right to demand payment; consequently some crew members have stayed on board for the last 15 years. They have turned the ship into their home; a home that is sinking with its inhabitants in it. Rust eats at the structure and at times the sailors break off parts of the ship to sell them as scrap metal.. They live in an almost invisible limbo.