Merchant Ships

Interstellar Merchants

There are five main classes of Interstellar Merchant ship based on size of their hyperspace drive, Class 1000, Class 2000, Class 3000, Class 4000 and Class 5000. They haul a variable number of huge, specially designed Cargo Pod.

The largest class, C5000 is most used for long-haul trade, and it the largest possible size of starship. In volume it is as big as a Battleship or a Carrier

Some ships are also used as a Liner class

Armed Merchants

In some cases a merchant ship of whatever class can be armed, though their efficacy is low. There is also the Armed Merchant AMI class of ship, which is specially designed to combine armament with cargo-carrying capacity.

Interplanetary Merchants

For interplanetary use, merchant vessels come in a much wider range of types, and sizes. Their function can vary from the tiny Orbital Tugs, used for hauling cargo pods around in high orbit - through to the massive kilometre-long ore-haulers, used to move materials slowly from Belter mines to colony worlds.

Merchant Ship Registration

The central register of interstellar merchant shipping is still Lloyd's of Old London.
The approximate breakdown of registrations by nation are as follows.

See also Merchant Ships Class 1000 Class 2000 Class 3000 Class 4000 Class 5000 Armed Merchant AMI