The film was loosely based on the evacuation of the 225 foreign nationals and almost 600 Chinese citizens from Yemen's southern port of Aden during the 2015 Yemeni Civil War in late March.
The film continued in similar style to that of Operation Mekong (2016). This film served as the highlight film presented to audience as a gift for the 90th Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, as well as the Communist Party's 19th National Congress. The film is said to be the "China's First Modern Naval Film" and grossed US$226.76 million, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2018.
Principal photography began in mid February 2017 in Morocco and employed 400 Moroccans and 300 Chinese as part of the technical crew group.