Mating Airlocks to Cargo Hatches

[MasterGwydion]

If the containers are non-pressurized, then they are also not climate-controlled. The cargo must be able to withstand temperatures of -270 degrees C to +10 degrees C. Non-pressurized containers also offer no protection from radiation. What effect does radiation have on your cargo? Also, contaminants can easily enter containers that are not sealed. How about atmospheric pressure? Anything that you are shipping will be subject to changing pressures, so anything that comes in a sealed bag or other sealed container has a good chance of either exploding or deforming to the point of failure.

Seems easier for the game to make the default containers protected against all of that.

 

[Terry Mixon]

If the containers are non-pressurized, then they are also not climate-controlled. The cargo must be able to withstand temperatures of -270 degrees C to +10 degrees C. Non-pressurized containers also offer no protection from radiation. What effect does radiation have on your cargo? Also, contaminants can easily enter containers that are not sealed. How about atmospheric pressure? Anything that you are shipping will be subject to changing pressures, so anything that comes in a sealed bag or other sealed container has a good chance of either exploding or deforming to the point of failure.

Seems easier for the game to make the default containers protected against all of that.

If you pay the additional cost for those containers, sure. Or just keep the hold pressurized.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

For interstellar shipping pressurized containers are an issue when the origin and destination have significantly different atmospheric pressures. So unless it is NECESSARY to be pressurized it won't be.

Containers can be crushed when the outside pressure is too high and burst when they aren't. Fasteners may be made much tighter or much loser on the container depending on whether the higher pressure is inside or out. Some containers would be extremely difficult thereby to open (and risk hatches etc opening violently and harming people/equipment. Loose ones may open unexpectedly.

By default cargo bays should be pressurized with equipment to equalize with the exterior atmosphere (which is why the manuals say cargo bays can function as giant airlocks). Cargoes that don't need atmosphere and/or temperature controls can be carried external in jump nets or unpressurized (cheap) pods.

 

[Condottiere]

Which would bring us back to five tonne containers, that being constructed as spacecraft hulls, are somewhat self contained with their own fusion power plant and life support.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Which would bring us back to five tonne containers, that being constructed as spacecraft hulls, are somewhat self contained with their own fusion power plant and life support.

Very expensive when there is no need for doing so. The cost of the ship maintaining pressure is negligible to the ship's operations. Unless there is an overriding need for a sealed cargo container (which would be on the shipper to pay for) then the standard, as per the SOM, is not necessarily airtight. If you want it to be airtight, pay a bit more, but that is not the standard. Hence, the cargo bay needs to be pressurized and have heating/life support. As this is the Starship Operator's Manual, it speaks to what happens on starships, not on worlds, so it seems pretty cut and dried.

 

[swordtart]

Very expensive when there is no need for doing so. The cost of the ship maintaining pressure is negligible to the ship's operations. Unless there is an overriding need for a sealed cargo container (which would be on the shipper to pay for) then the standard, as per the SOM, is not necessarily airtight. If you want it to be airtight, pay a bit more, but that is not the standard. Hence, the cargo bay needs to be pressurized and have heating/life support. As this is the Starship Operator's Manual, it speaks to what happens on starships, not on worlds, so it seems pretty cut and dried.

View attachment 5419

What is the stated cost of these containers and the cost difference between the 00 and the 05 container? Whilst low cost is generally preferred and even a Cr5 saving can be significant over millions of transactions, if the cost of loss of cargo due to mishap is greater than the cost of mitigating that risk then even a large sum would be more cost effective.

Quite why a ship owner would be interested in this is beyond me. I load your containers and I drop them off. If you want a guaranteed pressurised hold with exactly the atmosphere you require then you can charter the ship. If you want freight rate you have to protect it adequately against any random atmospheric conditions that I might need to have in place for my other needs (which could include cargos that have paid a premium for a specific atmosphere/temperature.

 

[Terry Mixon]

What is the stated cost of these containers and the cost difference between the 00 and the 05 container? Whilst low cost is generally preferred and even a Cr5 saving can be significant over millions of transactions, if the cost of loss of cargo due to mishap is greater than the cost of mitigating that risk then even a large sum would be more cost effective.

Quite why a ship owner would be interested in this is beyond me. I load your containers and I drop them off. If you want a guaranteed pressurised hold with exactly the atmosphere you require then you can charter the ship. If you want freight rate you have to protect it adequately against any random atmospheric conditions that I might need to have in place for my other needs (which could include cargos that have paid a premium for a specific atmosphere/temperature.

All I can tell you is that Mongoose specified what the standard containers are, and they are not guaranteed to be airtight. That means that the ship has to maintain the pressure. If that doesn't suit, talk to the management.

What you do in your Traveller Universe is up to you. For me, I see no reason why depressurizing the cargo bay would ever be standard practice. It makes no sense to me. I suspect the authors of the SOM agree with my take based on what they wrote. In any case, it's a case of you do you, and I'll do me.

As for price, all they have to say is this:

Containers vary in price by size, type and TL, from barely Cr50 for a simple 4F00/5 portable steel box up to roughly MCr0.5 for a 4A92/F that might act as a noble’s stateroom. Between the metallurgy and precision required, even the simplest of these containers are rarely made to lower than TL5 standards.