On Sun, 22 Mar 2026 22:30:40 +0000 (UTC), Phil Pugliese wrote:

> "Increase difficulty level by one for every decade of ship age"??
>Are TU Free Traders really  that rickety?

Not necessarily, but consider what happens with automobiles over 20 years,
or even 10 - the owner/driver slacks off on maintenance, parts for repairs
become harder to find (or unavailable except as used or refurbished or
remanufactured), and what looks like a simple repair may become more
complex because of hidden damage that only becomes apparent when you take
things apart. Why wouldn't the same sorts of things happen with starships?

I had a 1986 Toyota Camry. Toyota made fewer changes from model-year to
model-year than most American brands. Yet, by 2008, I wasn't going to be
able to get the parts I needed for an expected major engine or transmission
overhaul, even refurbished; the best I would be able to do would be used
parts evaluated as good condition by the dealership. The car was still
quite driveable, and I probably could have gotten another five or more
years out of it - but there was the risk of a catastrophic failure because
of the [slowly] deteriorating condition of key parts of the engine and
transmission. Since any such repair was going to cost well above KBB value
for the car, I elected to trade it in and get a Prius - which I'm still
driving today, but which will be in the same relative position as the Camry
in not all that many years from now.

Currently, cargo ships have an expected useful life of only about 30 years.

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