Liner

Line Combatants (Primary - Capital)				Escort Combatants (Secondary - Subcapital)				Military Auxiliary (Tertiary)
B- Battleship	C- Cruiser	O- Ortillery	V- Carrier	D- Destroyer	E- Escort	F- Fighter	H- Defense/Security	I- Combat Transport	Q- Combat Support	S- Scout	U- Utility	X- Commo	Z- Special

Mercantile Commercial Ships (Trade & Profit)				Non-Mercantile Commercial Ships (Industry & Profit)					Non-Commercial Ships (Nonprofit)			System Craft (Intrastellar)
A- Tramp	M- Freighter	R- Liner	T- Transport	G- Industrial	J- Prospector	K- Expedition	P- Corsair	U- Utility	L- Science	N- Medical	Y- Private	WB- Barge	WA- Satellite	WO- Space Station

Liners are a commercial or mercantile spacecraft and starcraft. Some shipping companies refer to themselves as "lines" and their ships, which often operate over set routes according to established schedules, as "liners".

• They are not intended for military use and have little recourse other than to flee for their lives if confronted by corsairs, raiders, or other hostile vessels. They are typically unarmed.
• Most, but not all, liners run to a schedule with set destinations. Tramp liners are one of the few exceptions to set schedules and destinations. Liners typically focus on subsector business trade and ferry passengers about the control zones of just one Imperial Noble or a handful of sub-polities.
• The typical Subsidized Liner is a trading vessel using a 600-ton hull intended to meet the commercial needs of clusters of worlds.
• Cargo Liners transport cargo, general freight, raw materials, resources, manufactured goods, merchandise, and more. Many have cargo holds adapted to particular services, with refrigerator space for frozen foodstuffs, tanks for liquid cargos such as petrols or ship fuel, secure lockers for valuables, and even mail vaults for interstellar mail.
• Passenger Liners typically carry passengers as well, often in multiple travel classes.

Library Data Referral Tree

Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information:
Starship:

• Starship User Types
  • Civilian Ship
  • Military Ship
  • Non-Commercial Vessel
  • Paramilitary Ship

• Advanced Ship Classifications
  • Ship Mission Code / Supraclass
  • Ship Type Code / Superclass
  • Ship Class Code / Class
  • Model (TL)
  • Bloc (Lot)

• Basic Ship Classifications
  • Adventure Class Ship
  • Battle Class Ship
  • Capital Ship
  • Fleet Class Ship
  • Size-Role Classification
  • Subcapital Ship
  • QSP
  • USP
  • World Class Ship

• Ships by Function
  • Bigcraft
  • Boat
  • Capital Ship
  • Largecraft
  • Non-starship
  • Smallcraft
  • Spaceplane
  • Spaceship
  • Starship
  • Subcapital Ship
  • Subcraft
  • System Craft
  • Warship

Speed of Travel

• Astronomical Unit (AU)
• FTL
• Light Speed (c)
• Light-week (lw)
• Light-year (ly)
• NAFAL (STL)
• Parsec (pc)

Description (Specifications)

A Liner is a civilian commercial ship designed for cargo and passenger transport. Liners are usually assigned a Hull Classification of "M". They fill the smallest possible economic niche where regular scheduled freight can regularly be found profitable. Nevertheless, many world-states find it worthwhile to subsidize such trade to ensure its reliability and avoid the vagaries of the interstellar economy.

Image Repository

Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Liner:

1. The Type M class Subsidized Liner: One of the most common subsidized liner types.
   
2. A side view of a Codori Prime class Luxury Liner.
   
3. A Tukera Longliner by a highport space station.
   
4. An image of a Lord Somerset class Subsidized Liner.
   

Merchant Vessel - Freighter:

1. A side view of a Mora class Freighter, also known as a Type MK class Transport.
   
2. A side view of a sleek Virtue class Light Freighter.
   
3. A Borazio class Heavy Freighter plying the trade lanes.
   
4. A Deneb class Modular Starship on a trade mission in orbit over a rich world.
   

Spectrum of Civil Shipping in Charted Space

Spectrum of Civil Shipping in Charted Space: 1105
Cateogries	A-class	R-class	M-class	T-class
Synopsis	Tramp	Liner	Freighter	Transport & Tanker
Hull Tonnage	100 to 2,499 dTons	100 to 2,499 dTons	2,500 to 999,999 dTons	2,500 to 999,999 dTons or more... (...rarely more than 1,000,000) dTons
Size-Cat	ACS	ACS	BCS & FCS	BCS & FCS (rarely WCS)
Ideal Freight Volume	Zero to Low (Hundreds of tons)	Medium (Hundreds to Thousands of tons)	High (Thousands to Tens of Thousands of tons)	Very High (Tens to Hundreds of Thousands of tons)
Market	Unscheduled low volume, high speculation trade routes	Mostly scheduled, medium speculation, subsidized trade routes	Scheduled medium and high-volume, low speculation trade routes	Scheduled high volume trade routes with massive economies of scale, or massive (...usually government) projects
Rough Market Share	10%	25%	45%	20%
Area of Influence	Cluster or Trace+	Subsector+	Sector	Multi-Sector
Business	Fledgling Line	Subsector-wide Line & Interface Line	Sector-wide Line	Multi-sector Line
Remarks	Merchant Princes & Adventurers	Scheduled & Subsidized Trade	Backbone of Merchant Trade	Corporate Bulk Trade
NOTES: While standards exist, ship naming standards evolve with time and over tech epochs. Class naming comments are only generalizations and many exceptions exist. Trade is heavily affected by local regulations, the rule of law, and local security conditions. WCS-class vessels are not ordinarily used for merchant missions as they are too large and expensive.

Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)

Subsidized Liners are commercial or mercantile starcraft. They typically cover low to medium volume trade routes with medium risk speculation. Such routes are key to pocket empires as needed services so they are often subsidized to encourage market growth. They are not intended for military use and have little recourse other than to flee for their lives if confronted by corsair vessels or other hostiles.

Supraclass Roles

Liners typically serve the following roles:
Largecraft & Bigcraft:

R-class Liner Supraclass Archetypes
Archetype	Type Code
Armed Liner	(RF)
Cargo Hauler	(RC)
Cargo Liner	(RC)
Carrier Liner	(RV)
Clipper	(RI)
Container Ship	(RC)
Cruise Ship	(RPL)
Fast Subsidized Merchant	(RF)
Fat Liner	(RC)
Freight Carrier	(RC)
Freight Liner	(RC)
Frontier Liner	(RF)
Heavy Liner	(RH)
Impromptu Troop Transport	(RF)
Interstellar Cruise Liner	(RP)
Interstellar Cruise Ship	(RP)
Interstellar Liner	(RP)
Jumpliner	(R)
Light Liner	(RL)
Liner	(R) (Namesake)
Longliner	(R)
Low Transport Liner	(RP)
Luxury Liner	(RPL)
Luxury Star Liner	(RPL)
Medium Liner	(RM)
Merchant Liner	(R)
Modular Subsidized Merchant	(R)
Modular Trader	(R)
Nonstandard Trade Liner	(RTN)
Passenger Liner	(RP)
Passenger Transport	(RP) Colonist (KC) Tourist (RP) VIP (RPL)
Provincial Transport	(RF)
Space Liners	(R)
Starliner	(R)
Starmerc Armed Liner	(RF)
Subsidized Liner	(R)
Subsidized Merchant	(R)

Supraclass Archetypal Roles

These vessels typically serve the following archetypal roles:

R-class Liner Supraclass Archetypes
Archetype	Type Code/s	Exemplar	Remarks
Far Liner	R2	Petty class Subsidized Merchant	Built to range longer endurance, farther routes. R2 = Regular at J-2
Fast Liner	R3	Kolomyia class Fast Liner	None R3 = Regular at J-3 or higher
Cargo Liner / Cargo Cruiser	RC	Jose Cadiz Royal Galleon class Cargo Carrier	A starship primarily for transporting cargo freight subsidized by local government, often connecting developing or newly discovered areas. C = Cargo
Heavy Liner	RH	Vespir class Heavy Liner	A Heavy Liner is a size-displacement category that includes vessels that weigh between 1,500 to 2,499 tons. H = Heavy
Clipper	RI	Aurora class Clipper	A starship meant for speedy transport of passengers and high value goods. I - clIpper
Light Liner	RL	Lightning class Frontier Merchant	A Light Liner is a size-displacement category that includes vessels that weigh between 100 to 999 tons. L = Light
Medium Liner	RM	Mora class Freighter	A Medium Liner is a size-displacement category that includes vessels that weigh between 1,000 to 1,499 tons. M = Medium
Passenger Liner	RP	Bastien class Subsidized Liner	A starship liner equipped for transporting passengers. P = Passenger
Luxury Liner / Cruise Liner	RPL	King Richard class Interstellar Liner	A starship liner equipped for sumptuous luxury living, primarily for transporting passengers P = Passenger L = Luxury
Merchant Liner / Trade Liner	RT	Lord Somerset class Subsidized Liner	Merchant Liners are general-purpose design starships, intended to carry both passengers and freight. They are larger than the Far Traders intended for cargoes over 200 tons and over a dozen passengers T = Trade
Nonstandard Trade Liner	RTN	Maorin Junker class Merchant	None N = Nonstandard
Carrier Liner	RV	Ghost Galleon class Cargo Ship	A liner specialized in carrying other starships, smallcraft, and other spaceworthy cargoes, usually via hangars or external mounts. In many cases, these external mounts give them the cargo capacity of a RM or RH despite their actual tonnage classifying them as RL, which helped prompt a separate code. They often rarely need to dock at a highport save to refuel. If refined fuel and cargo for their next destination are available near their breakout point, they may swap out cargo, refuel, and jump away, with speed and efficiency comparable to an Express Boat, blurring the border with the X class. The chief differences are, these vessels can also be used to rescue ships that have lost propulsion (up to their cargo capacity), and they can serve (most often for pirates or pocket empires) as makeshift carriers for small fighter squadrons. V = carrier (see article for explanation)
NOTES: There is semantic overlap between many of the classes and codes. Some codes organize by mission or capability, others by size and tonnage, and yet others by other characteristics.

History & Background (Dossier)

The government may subsidize larger commercial vessels (built on type 600 hulls or larger), primarily to assure consistent service to specific worlds. These subsidized merchants are generally assigned a specific route connecting from 2 to 12 worlds of varying characteristics. The route will generally be determined before a subsidized merchant is purchased, to allow tailored design features as may be necessary. When a subsidized merchant is ordered, the ship captain must make the 20% down payment, with the government assuming responsibility for the payments upon delivery, and taking 50% of the gross receipts of the ship while in service. The ship captain is responsible for all expenses and costs of operation.

Subsidized merchants are also subject to mobilization (...and use as auxiliaries) in the event of emergency or hostilities. At the end of 40 years, the vessel is completely paid off, and full title passes to the ship captain, but the vessel remains subject to mobilization in case of government need.

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Fast Liner:

1. Type R3 class Fast Liner AKA Fast Liner
   1. Condor class Subsidized Liner
   2. Kolomyia class Fast Liner

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Cargo Liner:

1. Type RC class Cargo Liner AKA Cargo Liner
   1. Borazio class Heavy Freighter
   2. Coyotl class Bulk Hauler
   3. Deneb class Modular Starship
   4. Dlaftpar class Cargo Liner
   5. Jose Cadiz Royal Galleon class Cargo Carrier
   6. Kyan Maru class Freighter
   7. Magnadon class Provincial Merchant
   8. Oukhaha class Bulk Hauler
   9. Trader class Provincial Transport
   10. Triad class Merchant

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Heavy Liner:

1. Type RH class Heavy Merchant AKA Heavy Liner
   1. Vespir class Heavy Liner

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Clipper:

1. Type RI class Clipper AKA Clipper
   1. Aurora class Multimission Clipper
   2. Maggart class Clipper
   3. Spartan class Modular Merchant

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Light Liner:

1. Type RL class Light Liner AKA Light Liner
   1. Athelstan class Merchant
   2. Lightning class Frontier Merchant
   3. Prosperity class Freighter
   4. Zoe Barrett class Trader

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Medium Liner:

1. Type RM class Medium Liner AKA Medium Liner
   1. Gamma Haden class Liner
   2. Mora class Freighter
   3. Seeker class Armored Merchant
   4. Star Merchant class Liner
   5. Type MK class Transport

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Passenger Liner:

1. Type RP class Passenger Liner AKA Passenger Liner
   1. Ad Astra class Subsidized Liner
   2. Bastien class Subsidized Liner
   3. Brilliance class Long Liner
   4. Comet Coffin class Low Transport
   5. Giiphicih class Liner
   6. Horizon class Passenger Liner
   7. Stellar class Liner
   8. Type HP class Passenger Liner
   9. Type M class Subsidized Liner

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Luxury Liner:

1. Type RPL class Luxury Liner AKA Luxury Liner
   1. Astral Splendour class Luxury Liner
   2. Celestial Star class Liner
   3. Codori Prime class Luxury Liner

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Merchant Liner:

1. Type RT class Trade Liner AKA Trade Liner
   1. Eakhau class Merchant
   2. Gold of Zurrian class Long Liner
   3. Margaret class Longliner
   4. Petty class Subsidized Merchant
   5. Pride of Vland class Long Liner
   6. Queen class Modular Subsidized Merchant
   7. Shianjo class Liner
   8. Stubbie class Subsidized Merchant
   9. Tukera class Longliner
   10. Type RT class Longliner
   11. Virtue class Light Freighter

Civilian Ship - Merchant Vessel - Subsidized Merchant - Non-standard Merchant Vessel:

1. Type RTN class Nonstandard Merchant Liner
   1. Arachnid class Non-standard Merchant Vessel
   2. Maorin Junker class Merchant
   3. Type MN class Non-standard Merchant Vessel

Ship Summary List

These are among the most common liners found around Charted Space:

36 Representative Liner (M) Classes

Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Aekguthang class Assault Cutter MN 12 20 0 3 Vargr Extents No Bastien class Subsidized Liner M 12 600 3 1 Third Imperium Yes Besouro Valente class Personnel Transport M 11 12,000 2 1 Terran Confederation M-0AS12 Brilliance class Long Liner M 14 800 4 2 Third Imperium Yes Brilliant Gem class Cruise Liner MV 14 36,117 5 1 Krax Confederation No Camel class Medical Launch M 15 20 0 1 Third Imperium No M-2S10 La Dolce Vita M 10 400 0 4 Campaign:NHNE No, unpublished starship design. Celestial Star class Luxury Liner M 15 2,000 6 1 Third Imperium Codori Prime class Luxury Liner M 11 800 2 2 Distant Fringe M-HB22 Condor class Subsidized Liner M 13 400 3 1 Third Imperium Coyotl class Bulk Hauler M 13 2,000 2 3 Infinity League A-VU32 Deliverance class Lifeboat MM 9 50 0 2 Distant Fringe MM-5A20 Excellence class Fast Shuttle M 7 90 0 3 Distant Fringe M-9A30 Fortune class Merchant M 12 600 3 1 Third Imperium No Gaia class Luxury Liner M 11 10,000 2 3 Distant Fringe Gaia class Luxury Liner M 11 10,000 2 3 Distant Fringe Giiphicih class Embassy Ship M 15 1,200 2 1 Hive Federation Yes M-MU12 Glimmerdrift class Subsidized Liner M 12 600 3 1 Third Imperium No MK-FU13 Goblin class Gig M 9 10 0 2 Distant Fringe M-1A20 Gold of Zurrian class Long Liner M 15 1,000 4 1 Third Imperium M-KS14 Great Eastern class Troop Transport MN 15 50 0 3 Third Imperium Yes MN-5S30 Horizon class Passenger Liner M 11 6,000 2 3 Distant Fringe Independence of the Stars class Interstellar Liner M 15 154,407 4 4 Third Imperium M-0KP44 Interstellar Lifesaver class Lifeboat MM 10 10 0 2 Terran Confederation Yes King Richard class Interstellar Liner M 11 5,000 2 1 Third Imperium No Nebula class Starliner M 14 9,000 5 1 Third Imperium Olympian class Cruise Liner M 11 10,000 2 4 Distant Fringe Pride of Vland class Long Liner M 13 1,000 4 1 Third Imperium No M-KS14 Royal class Interstellar Liner M 11 5,000 2 1 Third Imperium Yes Sapphire Moon class Moduleship M 14 13,363 1 1 Krax Confederation No Shuvalivashtu class Luxury Liner M 15 5,000 4 1 Third Imperium Star class Merchant Liner M 15 1,000 2 1 Third Imperium No Stellar class Liner M 14 600 3 1 Third Imperium Type M class Subsidized Liner MK 13 600 3 1 Third Imperium Yes MK-FU13 Type RT class Longliner M 13 1,000 4 1 Third Imperium Yes M-KS14 Xeekr'kir! class Merchant M 11 6,000 2 1 Two Thousand Worlds Yes

0 Representative Fat Liner (R1) Classes
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0 Representative Far Liner (R2) Classes
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0 Representative Fast Liner (R3) Classes
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0 Representative Cargo Liner (RC) Classes
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0 Representative Heavy Liner (RH) Classes
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0 Representative Clipper (RI) Classes
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0 Representative Light Liner (RL) Classes
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0 Representative Medium Liner (RM) Classes
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1 Representative Passenger Liner / Longliner (RP) Classes
Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Comet Coffin class Low Transport RP 14 100 3 2 Third Imperium RP-AS23

0 Representative Luxury Liner (RPL) Classes
No results

1 Representative Merchant Liner / Trade Liner (RT) Classes
Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Marius class Ship Transporter RT 11 30,000 2 1 Distant Fringe

0 Representative Nonstandard Trade Liner (RTN) Classes
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18 Representative Carrier Liner (RV) Classes

Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Class Mission Code TL Tons Jump G Origin Canon Quick ship profile Aurora class Multimission Clipper RV 12 2,080 5 2 Reformation Coalition Yes Brown class Jump Ship RV 15 5,000 6 1 Third Imperium Yes R-05P16 Clii Argu class Common Transport RV 15 20,000 6 1 Third Imperium Yes RV-0BU13 Conrad class Towing Vessel RV 13 200 2 2 Third Imperium Corporate class Range Carrier RV 11 75,000 2 1 Distant Fringe Deneb class Modular Starship RV 12 300 2 2 Third Imperium No RV-CS22 Distribution class Commercial Carrier RV 11 30,000 2 1 Third Imperium Dwarf class Starport Lift Tug RV 15 10,000 0 3 Third Imperium Endeavor class Ship Transporter RV 11 30,000 2 1 Distant Fringe Ghost Galleon class Carrier Liner RV 11 600 2 3 Terran Confederation RV-FS32 Heyan Rose class Freight Tractor RV 14 300 3 1 Third Imperium No RV-FU23 High Liner class Bulk Freighter RV 12 5,000 2 1 Bright Conclave Inthe class Modular Cutter RV 9 50 0 2 Third Imperium RV-5S60 Leander class Space Tug RV 15 600 6 6 Third Imperium No Maggart class Clipper RV 12 2,750 5 2 Reformation Coalition Yes Revolver class Modular Liner RV 12 300 2 2 Third Imperium RK-CC22 Sagacity class Bulk Freighter RV 12 5,000 2 1 Distant Fringe Sao class Heavy Merchant RV 11 7,945 2 1 Rim Republic

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• This article is an amalgamation of many different materials published since 1977.
• Marc Miller. Starships (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 19.
• Dave Sering. Starships and Spacecraft (Judges Guild, 1979), TBD.
• Ray Harms, Dan Hauffe, Michael Reagan. Darthanon Queen (Judges Guild, 1980), 20-26.
• Marc Miller. Starter Traveller (Game Designers Workshop, 1983), 11.
• Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 82.
• Loren Wiseman. Challenge 75 (Game Designers Workshop, 1994), TBD.
• Loren Wiseman. 600-ton Subsidized Liner Deckplans (Loren Wiseman, 2006), 1-44.
• Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. Traveller: The New Era (Game Designers Workshop, 1993), 374-376.
• Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. Brilliant Lances (Game Designers Workshop, 1994), 27.
• Don Perrin. Starships (Imperium Games, 1996), 34-35.
• Marc Miller. T5 Core Rules (Far Future Enterprises, 2013), TBD.
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Crawm Lermil
• Author & Contributor: Adrian Tymes