The story of the St. Christopher seems to be based on the real life story of the St. Patrick. All 11 hands abandoned the ship, but she righted herself after abandoned and was later found afloat and remained so for a time. She was towed to port and sank while moored there. There were two survivors, one of them a greenhorn.
The movie was shot in October and November of 2008. Parts of the movie were shot in a studio in downtown Toronto, as well as on a real fishing boat in Nova Scotia.