Another question: how do you register the ship?

[dgmonteavaro]

how do you register the ship? I mean, do you have a document like the car we drive? I imagine that all is registered in the Starports like a country these days, the Imperium has its certificates (electronic) and other planets o races other kind of them, but they're valid everywhere acroos the space.

I someone wants to sell the Ship, he has to do it with the supervision of an Admin at the Starport, to make a new document or something similar. But, if the captain dies can the players continue in possesion of the ship? I think: "yes, if they have ship shares of it".

What do you think? Is written in some traveller book?

 

[Zowy]

Lawyers are who you pay to set up your LIC and make sure the ship has a clean title so it and be regestered / insured / licenced / bonded / ect.

Whenever a sharholder dies, the probate courts will work out what to do with the shares / estate. As long a the block of shares is not more than 50%, the majority shareholds can keep things running fine.

 

[kristof65]

How ever you want...

Seriously, even within the US, vehicle registration is a confusing mess from state to state, city to city. There is no reason that the 3rd Imperium shouldn't be the same tangled mess.

For the most part, unless it's to be part of an adventure (like the CT adventure "Exit Visa"), you can pretty much just assume it's handled as part of the ship's monthly maintenance.

If you want to run the PCs thru the process as an adventure, see if you can get ahold of the "Exit Visa" adventure from CT - it's a good adventure to model any type of adventure involving bureaucratic nightmare upon.

 

[GypsyComet]

IMTU, any Imperial world with at least a 'D' port will be a regular part of the Registry rolls. Registry of a starship is done by individual worlds, and is up to the owner of the ship, the bank, the shipyard, and funky circumstance (the referee) in whatever proportion is called for.

Some worlds will have visitation requirements on ships registered there. These requirements may be onerous (like a subsidized contract without the subsidy), somewhat limiting ("see you next year!"), or merely formality ("Your next registration update inspection is scheduled for ten years from now. Don't miss it.").

The most popular worlds to get registry from, just as in the real world, will be those with few bureaucratic barriers or limits.

Some registries are going to be more prestigious, most won't raise an eyebrow (unless you happen to be a sector away), and a few will be curious for rarity, being an unregarded backwater, or being a known shelter for seedy sorts.

Subsidized ships will normally be registered to the world providing the subsidy.

Ships registered outside the Imperium will vary even more, and will tend to get their papers looked at more closely while in Imperial space. Being registered on Jinx/Five Sisters for example (as depicted in G:T Behind the Claw) is pretty much guaranteed to get you boarded by every customs craft you encounter.

 

[Woas]

How are the big international/ocean-going ships like oil tankers and cruiseliners classified? I would imagine spacecraft would be much the same.

 

[GypsyComet]

How are the big international/ocean-going ships like oil tankers and cruiseliners classified? I would imagine spacecraft would be much the same.

In the real world, all ocean-going ships are registered. The little excursion boats will normally be registered in the country where they are purchased and spend all their days. The big freighters and tankers are normally registered with their native country. Liners, and specifically the "cruise" ships, tend to have their registry from a short list of European countries who haven't annoyed anyone recently and thus have no problem hopping islands in the Caribbean or from port to port in the Med.

 

[Klaus Kipling]

Plenty of vessels are flying 'flags of convenience', though. I think Liberia has the second largest merchant navy after Japan, if you just look at ship registry.

edit: correction - second largest after Panama!

 

[GypsyComet]

Liberia is one of those countries that will register for cash and a handshake. "Flag of convenience" is a neat term for what I was describing above.

In Traveller terms, Regina, Mora, Rhylanor, Lunion, and Glisten will all want extensive paperwork to get a ship registered there. Many legitimate ship owners will be able to do that, too. But if you don't have the time or the clean papers, head out to Collace. They'll register anyone, and they're practically an Imperial port, right?

 

[AKAramis]

Liberia is one of those countries that will register for cash and a handshake. "Flag of convenience" is a neat term for what I was describing above.

In Traveller terms, Regina, Mora, Rhylanor, Lunion, and Glisten will all want extensive paperwork to get a ship registered there. Many legitimate ship owners will be able to do that, too. But if you don't have the time or the clean papers, head out to Collace. They'll register anyone, and they're practically an Imperial port, right?

IMTU, Wypoc will gleefully register anyone... but requires a 1% stake in the vessel for wypoc citizens, 5% for anyone else.

 

[Dietrich hault-Rauln]

IMTU, Wypoc will gleefully register anyone... but requires a 1% stake in the vessel for wypoc citizens, 5% for anyone else.

Second attempt :x

Adventure hook. Our intrepid adventurers decide to register their ship at a 'free port', such as Wypoc, to avoid Imperial taxes. They get a Wypocan lawyer to do the paperwork and then discover that their new stakeholder is the son/daughter of the local political strongman. Said offspring then begins insisting that his/her cargos (legal/illegal) and passengers/friends (ditto) get preferential shipping slots. 'You can't make your ship payments? That's too bad. You could sell the rest of the ship to me.'

Alternatively, regime change suddenly results in the new owner turning up, demanding travel offworld, just as the howling mob storms the starport gate!

 

[alex_greene]

Just look for any world with a low law level, and register your vessel with that world. Collace is an excellent choice: but Trexalon's a far better convenience flag port. You could use Trexalon registration as a quick and easy shorthand way of saying "This ship's crew are scum, and they don't care what dodgy cargos they carry, as long as they get paid."

A tramp trader, in other words.

 

[Zemekis]

You can register a ship at any space/star port you like.

Basically a ship register informs anyone about a ship's owner(s), the shares and of course the place where it is registerd.

Furthermore, the ship is subject to the law where it is registered. So if you register a ship at Collace all person and goods on board are subject to Collace law.
I think this is one of the most important things to consider when registering you ship. You might want to register at a a low-law planet to avoid the hassle with passengers snitching when you are shipping (forbidden) weapons again.

Of course registering will cost you some money but it will not be that much. However, some more advanced worlds, esp. those with high law level will require more paperwork and also certificates (clean-air atmospheric propulsion certificate, etc.) which in turn may cost some more.
But again, even on high law worlds I wouldn't charge more then 10 to 20kCr for the entire process.

For that fee the (majority) owner will get the more or less forgery-proof registration papers which will have to be kept safely aboard the ship since there is no FTL communication in OTU. In addition a copy of the registration will be sent to the subsector central registration, which in turn will send out a copy to the sector central registration which, again, will send a copy to the imperial central registration.

So when docking on other starports the papers on board the ship may be checked.

Local authorities may have the right to impound the ship to verify the papers. Usually the will send a query to the corresponding central registration. (If your ship is registered in Regina but is impounded on Terra, then they will send a query to the Imperial registration. Answer may take pretty long but local registration won't know about your ship.)

Of course impounding a ship is a drastic measure and should only occur if someone else has proof that your ship is stolen or had a change of ownership otherwise, etc.

 

[dgmonteavaro]

HOW EASY OR DIFFICULT IS TO FORGE A SHIP CERTIFICATE?

Sure it depends on TL Starport (if it's electronic or a signed paper ). Maybe tha DNA Owner is involved, I don't know.

Because, what happen if people find ghost ships out there?Can they take them? I don't know anything about sea laws, etc.

thanks

 

[rust]

HOW EASY OR DIFFICULT IS TO FORGE A SHIP CERTIFICATE?

If you want the registry to be accepted at an Imperial starport, it most
probably has to be verified by the Imperial Starport Authority and to be
on the average Imperial technology level (TL 10 at least, I would think).

To forge a registry for a ghost ship could be an extremely bad idea. De-
pending on what turned the ship into a ghost ship (e.g. piracy or some
other capital crime), this could end the characters' career in a most un-
pleasant way.

In my opinion the best way to handle a ghost ship would be to inform the
authorities and to claim salvage rights.