The story goes like this: Simon Yam is the captain of a pirate ship. They kill merchant seamen and rob them. His brother is one of his crew and has reservations about what they are doing. When they "rescue" a bunch of seamen, the brother notices that his good friend is among the seamen they rescue. Simon and his gang massacres the group of stranded seamen, but his brother hides his friend below decks. Upon entry into Hong Kong customs finds the stowaway who then escapes.

Simon and his gang can't leave HK until the stowaway is found: dead or alive. So there begins the manhunt. HK police try to find the stowaway, while Simon and his gang try to find and kill him because they are afraid that he will tell police the atrocities that they commit at sea. Meanwhile, Simon's brother is trying to help his friend escape both Simon and the HK police. By the time the story ends, most of the principle characters are dead.

Out of all the "IN THE LINE OF DUTY" movies, this one is probably the most gritty and violent. As with the other films in the series, SEA WOLVES seems rather dated. While very successful, the film was low budget, and it shows. There are also a series of annoying flashback shots. Still there is plenty of good action and the story, while formalistic, is pretty good.