CONTAINER
INTRODUCTION TO CONTAINERS
Container refers to a large (often cylindrical) specially built non-propulsive transport containers that come in a variety of uses. Many containers are little more than hollow cargo holds that can be connected together like ancient railway “box cars”. Each container is completely self-contained for its mission, having internal gravity generation, lighting, atmospheric capability and other specialized equipment as needed. Many transport or freight containers have onboard transporters and special cargo handling equipment. Other personnel carrying containers will have full computer systems, crew quarters, medical facilities or other on-board systems. Specialized freight containers, designed for liquid, bulk or even vacuum cargos, can be left at a single location, loaded, and prepared for transport. Containers are transported to and from their location by specially equipped Cargo Transport Tugs, designed to push or pull several containers linked together. Containers are the most common form of shipment, with military, government and private containers used by various companies. Some containers are purchased by small freight companies and are designed to allow a vast number of smaller cargoes to be transported on set cargo runs. Indistinguishable from standard containers, these specialized units are sometimes purchased by several different companies, with internal space divided up per company.
LIQUID CONTAINER (LCT):
This container is used to transport large amounts of liquid materials. It is equipped with multiple baffled compartments which allow the transport of various liquid materials. Most can accommodate between 4,000 and 5,000 SCU of material.
DRY BULK CONTAINER (DBCT):
This container is used to transport large amounts of material such as ore or grain. It is equipped with multiple compartments to allow the transport of different materials or various grades of the same material. These are the most common civilian and corporate purchased containers. They can accommodate between 3,500 and 4,500 SCU of material.
REEFERS CONTAINER (RCT):
This container is used to transport large amounts of material that require significant specialized climate control. They are equipped with far greater numbers of individualized compartments.
STARLINER CONTAINER (STCT):
This container is used as a mass-personnel transport. It is equipped with a full range of facilities for passengers and crew, as well as recreation and medical facilities. Some are equipped with extensive luxury facilities while others are equipped with colony support facilities to train and acclimatize settlers on long journeys to frontier planets.
PRODUCTS CONTAINER (PRCT):
This container is used nearly exclusively by civilian interests to transport finished products to and from ports and colony worlds. Like a Reefers container, the Products container has a large number of individual compartments and equipment to support varying types of environments in each.
ASSAULT CONTAINER (ACT):
This military modified container is designed to provide long term support for combat operations. It is equipped with medical, repair and command and control systems designed specifically for a combat environment. These containers are often part of a long term presence and can be found with other containers that also provide combat support.
ENGINE REPAIR CONTAINER (ERCT):
This container is used for the transport and installation of warp engines nacelles and components. They are often found in support of military operations or in areas where the interstellar medium may significantly tax existing systems. They are often part of a larger support group and are often used as part of temporary bases in frontier locations.
HYDROPONICS CONTAINER (HYCT):
These containers provide growth environments for both flora and fauna native to various races. They can support small to medium groups of individuals on colonies or planets where native food stuffs can not readily be grown or cultivated. These containers are used extensively by the Gorn and Klingons in many of their systems to ensure fresh meat is available.
LARGE PRODUCT CONTAINER (LPCT):
This container is essentially a massive empty container designed to transport very bulky items that can not easily be towed by a tractor beam.
COLONIAL TRANSPORT (COCT):
This container is designed to support a small to medium colony during its early stages. It is equipped to act as a space born station as well as an off-world production center or medical center should the need arise. Due to it’s longer time on station, a Colonial Transport container carries fewer actual colonists than a Starline, yet can support significantly more individuals on-planet.
FACTORY CONTAINER (FACT):
This container is designed to be a major manufacturing station near locations where a permanent structure is unnecessary or may take time to build. They are used extensively by manufacturing companies to reduce the time needed to produce good and materials.
SHUTTLECRAFT CONTAINER (SHCT):
These containers are designed to support large numbers of fighters, shuttles and other small craft that are needed for lengthy periods of time. They are equipped with living quarters for pilots and repair crews and are often part of temporary orbital stations.
SURVEY CONTAINER (SUCT):
The highly specialized containers are designed to conduct exploration, research and charting missions from a fixed point. They are often towed to areas where a long-term research presence is necessary. They are often used where a ground station is impractical or unavailable.
MEDICAL CONTAINER (MECT):
This container is essentially a massive mobile hospital, capable to dealing with a wide range of disasters near remote and distant locations. When not utilized in it’s hospital role, these containers are used as medical laboratory facilities.
STATION CONTAINER (STCT):
These specialized containers are designed to act as a hub for other containers, creating space stations and outposts in deep space or planetary orbit. They are equipped with linking mechanisms that allow the transfer of consumables, computer information and other materials. They also provide a command and control function as well as more sophisticated communication and operations equipment.
ORE PROCESSING CONTAINER (OPCT):
These civilian containers are designed to process raw ore into usable metals and alloys. They are often used in locations where transporting unrefined ore invited pirate activities. They are often used in conjunction with Factory containers or as part of a large scale operation in star systems where a ground based processing station is impractical. Ore Processing Containers are sometime referred to as refinery containers.
TRAINING CONTAINER (TRCT):
These Klingon designed containers are built to allow subjected races to be trained in a controlled environment. They use special simulators to mimic dangerous mining or work environments and allow Klingon technicians to train slaves to operate machinery in these environment. Most often, they are used on worlds with extremely primitive native life forms where more standard “in-field” training would most often result in numerous accidents.
TENDER CONTAINER (TECT):
These containers are designed to be transported to areas where repair is needed to ship in the field. They are equipped with parts and replicators to repair nearly every system found on most starships. They are also equipped with limited consumables to resupply repaired vessels. These containers are often found in conjunction with Engine Repair containers and can provide full refit and load out to multiple ships when necessary.