[TML] Merchant Marine/Merchant Navy in Traveller

[Richard Aiken]

On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 5:25 PM, Jerry W Barrington
<jerry.barrington at gmail.com> wrote:
> All these ideas really only apply if somebody owns a lien on the ship.  Once
> it's paid off (and 40 years is pretty absurd),

Not really.  One of my players did the math once and that comes out to
about a 5% annual percentage rate, on the original purchase price.

 it can be re-registered in
> any system that doesn't bother with such pesky Merchant Navy laws.

There might be a few Mauritanias and Liberias around the Imperium.
But the real "benefit" of such systems is their low-to-non-existent
safety/inspection standards, which lower the operating costs of ships
registered there.  Since the Imperium largely puts such matters under
the purvey of the Imperial Navy - which enforces same because it a)
gives them a legit excuse to conduct boardings and b) lowers the
instance of assistance calls - this pretty much leaves a lack of
Merchant Navy laws and willingness to register "irregularly acquired"
vessels as the only "benefits" of shady registry sources.

Very marginal worlds might still do these things - not set up a
Merchant Navy/register stolen ships - just to get the registry fees.
But then again, very marginal worlds are also prone to sudden changes
of government.  What happens when Planet Liberia's new Supreme Leader
promulgates a retroactive Merchant Navy law and then requires all
"his" ships to report in for "national emergency duties?"

Imagine the local IN commandant, when the PCs come crying to him:
"Sorry, ol' chap.  That's a planetary sovereignty issue.  'Fraid I can
do a thing for you.  Would you like another biscuit?"

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident." Robert A. Heinlein