A "lightship" is a static floating lighthouse permanently anchored in one place that never sails anywhere.
Final of about only a dozen movies produced by the short-lived 1980s production house of CBS Theatrical Films.
Michal Skolimowski, playing Alex Miller, and billed as Michael Lyndon, is the son of Jerzy Skolimowski. After Le succès à tout prix (1984), where Michal was also billed as Michael Lyndon, this movie was their second film collaboration, and has been one of a few where the two have worked together.
The movie is set ten years after World War II, off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia at Cape Hatteras.
"The roles of the hijacker Caspary (Robert Duvall) and the Coast Guard Captain Miller (Klaus Maria Brandauer) had to be switched before shooting began", according to "Variety", meaning that lead actors Robert Duvall and Klaus Maria Brandauer swapped parts. As such, Duvall and Brandauer were originally cast as being the Captain and hijacker, respectively, but changed to each other's characters.