Sea Monsters

At a Lake Erie recycling yard, a fire-damaged Great Lakes freighter arrives for its final job. A family-run crew races to make the ship safe, strip it for steel, and turn risk into profit, as shifting scrap prices, tight margins, and environmental dangers threaten every decision.

Across southern France, two radically different wind-powered machines chase the same obsession: speed. SailGP F50 catamarans duel at close quarters in Saint-Tropez, while the SP80 speed craft trains in Leucate to break records. Both push foils, data and human control to the edge of physics.

At the Soo Locks, the most critical link in America’s industrial chain, winter closes fast. Crews battle ice, time and brutal conditions to guide the final iron ore freighters through the system, while tugs, divers and air-bubbler systems work nonstop to keep the channel open. The last ship must pass before shutdown.

At Sanmar Shipyards in Altinova, Turkiye, engineers are redefining the tugboat for a new era of global trade. As container ships grow ever larger, the team tests whether electric power can match diesel strength when guiding massive vessels through tight, busy harbors.

In places where building on land is impossible, engineers build on water. Floating bridges connect communities where traditional structures cannot, but keeping them safe is a challenge. As traffic, weather and shifting water push these bridges to their limits, crews must act fast to prevent small problems from becoming major failures.

Driven by one man’s vision, Sigurd Aase sets out to rebuild the largest Viking ship ever attempted and sail it across the Atlantic using ancient design alone. Battling storms, fatigue and unforgiving seas, the crew must prove that the vessel can survive open-ocean conditions and reach North America without engines or modern technology.