(Apologies for top posting but the phone app is being awkward)

I would expect insurance and minimum standards for maintenance to exist on the basis that the Imperial banks are issuing multi-million megacredit loans for ships, and they will want some protection on their debt.

Now, how that applies to ships which are paid off is a different matter, but - again - elements of protecting travellers and cargo in ships are likely to push towards some sets of standards.

If you look towards canon, then GT Starports has some oblique references to this:

"CERTIFICATION

The Imperium certifies vessels for safe operation (“spaceworthiness”). A vessel arriving at a Class III or larger port without a valid operating certificate may be required to berth in a designated area away from other vessels, and undergo immediate inspection. If it fails this, it can be denied permission to leave the port until it can be brought up to standard.

A certificate is valid for five years, though ships usually undergo recertification as part of annual maintenance. The process takes one day (part of the maintenance time, if done then) and costs Cr1 per displacement ton of vessel, including all small craft carried aboard.

Certification inspectors may demand a spot inspection of any vessel of Imperial registry, at any time, for any reason. If the ship is found to be in compliance, there is no charge for the inspection, though there is also no reimbursement for lost time. If not, fines will be assessed, and of course the certification is canceled until the situation is rectified. Inspectors will not usually run a spot-check unless something about the vessel attracts their attention; there are just too many ships and too few inspectors. However, a random inspection is always a possibility."

Although rusting is unlikely to have been on the minds of the writers of Traveller, I would assume that it can be abstracted into the maintenance costs of the starship. It creates a nice opportunity for colour, and for plots, but is something that can ignore in the most part.

Hope this is helpful.

Dom

On 3 Jan 2016, 04:03 +0000, Greg Chalik <mrg3105@gmail.com>, wrote:

This comment assumes the equivalents of organisations listed here exist in OTU

Otherwise, I doubt port managment authorities will be paying ANY attention to anyone's hulls; the Navy looks after their own, and the commercial operators have it on their ballance sheet...as the bottom-of-the-list optional activity.

If the sci-fi writer who described hull surface as "pitted and scarred" was right, then outer hull maintenance is far from simple, and likely a service not provided at port facilities, which are mostly concerned about getting vessels in and out as quickly as possible.

Anything may be possible in the future, but it seems to me that performing hull maintenance while loading and unloading cargo is not going to happen. This is likely because of the concurrent contraband inspection.

Greg C