Spacer’s Handbook

Life Boats; Basic Rules and Requirements

All vessels engaged in commercial activities as defined by the CPJCT Article Nine shall be equipped with life boats of sufficient capacity to evacuate all passengers and crew in the event of catastrophic emergency. The numbers, sizes, and operational parameters of the life boats depend on the size and class of vessel and are fully enumerated by vessel size and class in Appendix P.

Safety Drills; Requirements

All vessels engaged in commercial activities as defined by the CPJCT Article Nine shall engage in regular safety drills to assure that all passengers and crew are aware of their duties and responsibilities in the event of emergency. These drills must occur at least once per quarter of operation and may include but are not limited to life boat drills, suit drills, and fire drills. Passenger vessels of more than 20mkt and carrying more than 30 passengers are required to perform these drills not later than seven days after getting underway.

Shares: Explanation and Distribution of

All ship’s personnel are eligible for compensation over and above earned salaries. That compensation consists of a share of the voyage’s profit as determined by the ledger and certified by the Captain.

Share Distribution Table and Explanation:

Share Explanation
Owner: The Owner’s share consists of 20% of total profit before crew share distributions
Captain: The Captain’s share consists of 10% of total profit before crew share distributions.
Ship: The remaining profit is distributed among the ship’s officers and crew based on their rank and/or specialty. Officers receive double shares while crew receive full, half, or quarter shares depending on rank.

Shares: Example

If A ship completes a voyage with the following officers and crew and the profit consists of 10 kilocreds:

Officers (each gets two shares):

  • Captain
  • First mate
  • Second mate
  • Engineer
  • Chief steward
  • Cargo master

Crew:

  • Full share(5)
  • Half share (4)
  • Quarter share (4)

Total shares: 20

Owner: 2000 cr
Captain: 1000 cr
Ship: 7000 cr

The Owner would get 2000 cr. the Captain would get 1000 cr. The remaining 7000 cr are divided by 20. Each share in this example is worth 350 cr and distributed according to share rank with each officer getting 700 cr, each full share getting 350 cr, etc.

Note that the captain, as officer, gets 1700 cr — the Captain’s Share plus a Double Share as officer.

Ship’s Organizational Structure

All vessels engaged in commercial activities as defined by the CPJCT Article Nine, shall be in compliance with all appropriate rules and regulations governing their class and trade. Each ship must carry and display prominently an Operational License granted by the central authority of the CPJCT and subject to inspection and renewal every five stanyers as measured by ship’s secure log. In order to maintain a valid Operational License, each vessel must maintain the stipulated numbers of qualified officers and crew according to ship class and commercial activity. A complete breakdown of minimum crew standards by ship class and activity can be found in Appendix J of this handbook.

Generally officer and crew shall consist of at least, but not limited to, the following:

Captain: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as captain for the class of vessel.

Deck Division:

Officers:

First Mate: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as first mate for the class of vessel (required only on vessels larger than 10mkt).
Second Mate: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as second mate for the class of vessel. (required only on vessels larger than 20mkt)
Third Mate: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as third mate for the class of vessel. (required only on vessels larger than 50mkt)

Specialist Officers:

Astrogator: Individually licensed by the Confederated Planets Committee on Astrogation.
Systems Manager: Individually certified by the Confederated Planets Committee on Computing, Communications, and Network Systems

Crew:

Able Spacer: Individually certified by passing the Able Spacer exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Ordinary Spacers and Spacer Apprentices, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Ordinary Spacer: Individually certified by passing the Ordinary Spacer exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Spacer Apprentices, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Spacer Apprentice: Entry level position requiring only valid identification. Individual ships may impose additional requirements including but not limited to language fluency, health assessment, and minimum age. Duties include watchstanding, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.

Selected Technical Specializations: (See Appendix L for complete list by division)

* Astrogation
* Ship Handling

Steward Division:

Officers:

Chief Steward: Qualified and individually certified as Chief Steward by the Confederated Planets Committee on Passenger Safety (required on passenger vessels, only).
Stewards Mate: Qualified and individually certified as Stewards Mate by the Confederatd Planets Committee on Passenger Safety (required on passenger vessels above 200mkt, only)

Crew:

Messman: Individually certified by passing the Able Messman exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Food Handlers and Attendants, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Food Handler: Individually certified by passing the Ordinary Steward exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Attendants, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Attendant: Entry level position requiring only valid identification. Individual ships may impose additional requirements including but not limited to language fluency, health assessment, and minimum age. Duties include watchstanding, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.

Selected Technical Specializations: (See Appendix L for complete list by division)

* Chef
* Steward
* Bursar

Engineering Division:

Officers:

Chief Engineer: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as Chief Engineer for the class of vessel AND qualified and individually licenced by the Confederated Planets Committee on Power Systems Engineering to be an operator for all classes of engines, boilers, reactors, and generators on the vessel upon which he or she serves.
Engineering First: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as Engineering First Officer for the class of vessel AND qualified and individually licenced by the Confederated Planets Committee on Power Systems Engineering to be an operator for all classes of engines, boilers, reactors, and generators on the vessel upon which he or she serves..
Engineering Second: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as Engineering Second Officer for the class of vessel AND qualified and individually licenced by the Confederated Planets Committee on Power Systems Engineering to be an assistant operator for all classes of engines, boilers, reactors, and generators on the vessel upon which he or she serves..

Crew:

Machinist: Individually certified by passing the Machinist exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Enginemen and Wipers, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Engineman: Individually certified by passing the Engineman exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Wipers, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Wiper: Entry level position requiring only valid identification. Individual ships may impose additional requirements including but not limited to language fluency, health assessment, and minimum age. Duties include watchstanding, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.

Selected Technical Specializations: (See Appendix L for complete list by division)

* Power Systems
* Propulsion Systems
* Environmental Systems

Cargo Division:

Officers:

Cargo Master: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as Cargo Master for the class of vessel (required on any vessel carrying more than 100mkt of cargo, only)
Cargo First: Qualified and individually licensed by the CPJCT as Cargo First Officer for the class of vessel (required on any vessel carrying more than 10mkt of cargo, only)

Crew:

Cargoman: Individually certified by passing the Able Cargoman exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Cargo Handlers and Cargo Loaders, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Cargo Handler: Individually certified by passing the Orginary Cargoman exam administered by the designated ship’s officer while underway or by CPJCT field officers in port. Duties include watchstanding, supervising Cargo Loaders, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.
Cargo Loader: Entry level position requiring only valid identification. Individual ships may impose additional requirements including but not limited to language fluency, health assessment, and minimum age. Duties include watchstanding, and other routine shipboard tasks as directed.

Selected Technical Specializations: (See Appendix L for complete list by division)

* Cargo Routing
* Cargo Handling

Special qualification:

Commercial courier vessels, yachts for hire, and other small craft carrying less that 10mkt of cargo and no passengers may operate with only a Captain, provided the captain’s license carries the appropriate small craft endorsements in astrogation and engineering. Up to ten (10) passengers may be carried on such craft as appropriate providing the captains’s license carries an additional small craft steward endorsement.

Note: Private vessels not engaged in commercial activities as defined by the CPJCT Article Nine, are not subject to the rules and regulations found in this document and, instead, are subject to local rules and regulations in force in the planet and/or sector of registry.

Vacuum Environment Suits

All ship’s personnel will have access to, and training in the use of, vacuum environment suits. VE-suits come in three classes — emergency suit, soft suit, and hard suit. Each suit has a slightly different configuration and application but all have the same basic function in terms of allowing the wearer to operate in vacuum.

Emergency Suit
The emergency suit is the lightest and shortest duration suit. They provide the bare minimum vacuum protection and operational duration and are intended for crew and passengers who have little or no training in vacuum environment operations. The emergency suit has sufficient air reserve for up to two stans, depending on exertion levels, but carries no water or sanitation fittings. Regulations call for every registered commercial vessel to have at least one of these suits available for every person aboard.

Soft Suit
The soft suit is the basic vacuum work suit intended for use inside ship and station hulls. They are heavier and more durable than emergency suits. Because they are intended for extended use, they have sanitation fittings as well as replaceable air and water cannisters. Soft suits can be used in any gravity environment but have no propulsion capability. Soft suits have only limited radiation shielding and should normally be used inside inside of a ship or station hull. They are intended for the use by trained officers and crew and only those individuals who are so certified should be allowed to use soft suits in operational settings.

Hard Suit
The hard suit is a heavy duty vacuum work suit intended for use outside ship and station hulls. In addition to all the features of the soft suit, the hard suit has a stiffened exo-skeleton with mount points for various tools such as propulsion units and grapplers. They are used in low-grav and no-grav vacuum environments for construction and repair as well as cargo handling. Hard suits have extensive radiation shielding and can be safely operated outside of the ship or station hull. They are intended for use by trained officers and crew and only those individuals who are so certified should be allowed to use hard suits in operational settings.

Excerpted from The Articles…

Article 37

Certain circumstances require the Captain of a vessel to exert extraordinary control on the flow of information from the ship. Special cargoes, important passengers, or other sensitive information can be temporarily suppressed for the safety and welfare of the ship and crew. When questioned about these situations, all crew will be instructed to politely invoke Article 37 and refer all inquiry to the Captain or other designated source for official information.

56 Responses to Spacer’s Handbook

  1. Natalie Zybert says:

    I want cookies beefalo dish!!!!!!

  2. Bill Kelley says:

    Hi!
    I have all the Solar Clipper books on Kindle. When I wanted to be an astronaut in 1970 I thought we’d be in space by now and I’d have an engineering career on a spacecraft. I’m an ex-Navy propulsion engineer and made my way into civilian nuclear power (big BWRs, no fusactors) so I got to play with big machinery and tech, but it’s not in space. I love the way your books describe the human side of watch-standing, problem solving, and duty to shipmates while en-route to a distant port. I feel like I’m on the watch rotation and have to make the coffee when I read your books. One request – do you have any floor plans for the spacecraft in your books? The book covers show exteriors but it would add a lot to be able to see a barbell or a scout craft, etc. I’d probably frame them and hang them in the living room. Thank you for writing these great stories. Bill Kelley

  3. ThermonuclearFeline says:

    I would die for a full spacers handbook to be published

  4. James says:

    Ships roster need to be updated.

    Missing the ship from owners share
    Add also the new ship from school days.

  5. Chuck aka SpaceBadger says:

    Are the ship illustrations on the covers actually approved by you, Skipper? Just taking frex the cover of Milk Run (which I’ve just finished, and very much enjoyed, thank you!), the ship illustrated doesn’t match my impression of either a Barbell or of Pregrine based on your text descriptions. Just wondering if I’m picturing it wrong, or the illustrator.

  6. Skipper says:

    The Podium (Audible) covers, I have no say on. Only whether or not I want to adopt them for my books.

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