Freelance Traveller - The Shipyard - Classic Traveller Designs

Venture-class Frontier Trader

This article originally appeared in the April 2014 issue.

This ship was built using the Classic Traveller rules as set out in the 1981 printing of Book 2: Starships.

Built on a non-standard 400-ton streamlined hull, the Venture-class Frontier Trader is designed for exploratory trade in areas where starport facilities may not be well-developed. It mounts Jump Drive E, Maneuver Drive F, and Power Plant F, giving performance of Jump-2 and 3G acceleration. Fuel tankage of 150 tons supports four weeks of power plant operation and one Jump-2, plus an additional 40 tons to support either extended operations or an additional Jump-1. The ship is equipped with fuel scoops and a refiner, allowing wilderness refueling and the use of unrefined fuel. Adjacent to the Bridge is a Model/3 computer. There are 10 staterooms. The ship carries an Air/Raft and 120 tons of cargo. There are three hardpoints and three tons allocated for turrets and firecontrol, but no turrets are installed by default. The ship requires a crew of five: Pilot, Navigator, two Engineers, and a Medic (if sufficiently skilled, one of the other crew members may double as Medic). If turrets are installed, one gunner for each is additionally required. As shown, the ship costs MCr191.9 (including the cost of the air/raft), plus architect’s fees of MCr1.92, and takes 14 months to build.

Design Worksheet

Component	Volume (tons)	Cost (MCr)
Hull	400	40.0
Streamlining (incl scoops and refiner)	-	4.0
Jump Drive E (Jump 2)	30	50.0
Maneuver Drive F (3G)	11	24.0
Power Plant F	19	48.0
Bridge	20	2.0
Computer (Model/3; CPU 5/Storage 9))	3	18.0
Staterooms (10)	40	5.0
Hardpoints and Firecontrol (3)	3	0.3
Air/Raft	4	0.6
Fuel Tankage (J2 + J1 + PPlant)	150	-
Cargo Hold	120	-
Totals	400	191.9

One of a long line of exploratory merchant ships, the Venture-class is the first of a highly successful design. Ventures are the third most common ship in frontier areas, behind Beowulf and other Type A Free Traders and the Type S Scout/Courier.

Financial Profile

If the ship is financed on the usual terms (20% down, 1/240 of the purchase price monthly for 480 months), and operated for 25 jumps per year (plus 2 weeks annual maintenance), the ship’s cost profile will appear as below.

//TABLE

Cost Item		Per Week	Per Jump (25/Year)	Per Month (1/12 Year)	Per Year
Ship Mortgage		Cr183,943	Cr382,600	Cr797,084	Cr9,565,000
Life Support¹		Cr10,000	Cr20,800	Cr43,334	Cr520,000
Annual Maint²		Cr3,840	Cr7,680	Cr16,000	Cr192,000
Crew Salaries
	Pilot	Cr1,385	Cr2,880	Cr6,000	Cr72,000
	Navigator	Cr1,154	Cr2,400	Cr5,000	Cr60,000
	2 Engineers	Cr1,847	Cr3,840	Cr8,000	Cr96,000
	Medic	Cr462	Cr960	Cr2,000	Cr24,000
Fuel
	Jump³	Cr19,231	Cr40,000	Cr83,334	Cr1,000,000
	Power Plant⁴	Cr3,750	Cr7,800	Cr16,250	Cr195,000
Total Costs		Cr225,612	Cr468,960	Cr977,002	Cr11,724,000
Bold figures represent the “basic” cost from which others are derived. 10 staterooms, Cr2,000 per stateroom per 2 weeks. Assumes that the ship must maintain life support during Annual Maintenance Per week cost is based on 50 weeks, rather than 52, to account for actual Annual Maintenance period Jump fuel costs are based on Cr500/ton for refined fuel, 25 Jumps per year at J2 each (80 tons per Jump). Power Plant fuel costs are based on Cr500/ton for refined fuel, 30 tons per four weeks.

Revenue is Cr8,000 per passenger per jump, with a maximum of five passengers per jump. The worksheet below shows the required cargo profit per ton per jump to cover costs, based on the indicated percentage of use.

Percentage of Capacity	Passenger Revenue	Required Cargo Profit (per ton)
20% (1 Passenger, 24 tons cargo)	Cr8,000	Cr19,207
40% (2 Passengers, 48 tons cargo)	Cr16,000	Cr9,437
60% (3 Passengers, 72 tons cargo)	Cr24,000	Cr6,180
80% (4 Passengers, 96 tons cargo)	Cr32,000	Cr4,552
100% (5 Passengers, 120 tons cargo)	Cr40,000	Cr3,575