1. How expensive is the hull, as a fraction of the total cost of the ship?

The more expensive the hull, the more likely you are to keep replacing components. This tends to happen as cars get older--over time, you spend much more on maintenance than the car is worth!

2. How long do the drives last?

If jump drives last 40+ years, everything else is going to be replaced until the jump drive fails.

On Thu, Jan 14, 2021 at 4:44 PM Kurt Feltenberger <xxxxxx@thepaw.org> wrote:

On 1/14/2021 7:09 PM, Charles Hensley - hensleyc1 at mac.com (via tml list) wrote:

How long is the hull viable? Most players that
get a ship, by the rules, get one that is 40+ years old. How long could
it be expected to last as a viable ship before it's no longer physically
safe to use?

Well, a bank won’t give a 40 year loan if they did not expect it to last that long. I would expect that 40 is the time for the major refit. Car loans are normally 6 year term, average car lifespan is 12 years. If that applies to ships, then average lifespan would be 80 years. But then my vehicles are 14, 19, 24, and 47. So while half the ships are done at 80, there will still be a few working at 300.

The B52 bomber is 65 years old and expected to go another 30. Just a few data points on my WAG.

Charles

Agreed on all points. But given the nature of things being manufactured today, where they tend to have a specific lifespan, would that apply to ships? Past a certain point the cost to replace components will exceed the cost to just sell it for scrap or to Happy Eneri's Used Jalopy Emporium and buy new.
-- 
Kurt Feltenberger
xxxxxx@thepaw.org/xxxxxx@yahoo.com
“Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me 
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