Re: [TML] Relic tech and Scarcity-Driven Imperium (was: Salvage Operations (and Submarines)) Bruce Johnson 30 Mar 2016 17:40 UTC

> On Mar 29, 2016, at 4:50 PM, Tim <xxxxxx@little-possums.net> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Mar 29, 2016 at 06:48:22PM +0000, Phil Pugliese (via tml list) wrote:
>> I've seen 'official' stats for up to 10,000DT's & have heard of
>> others up to 20,000DT's.
>>
>> Would that be enough to run the CT 3I?
>
> Yes, certainly.  Economies of scale in the construction and operation
> rules in most versions start being fairly negligible around the 3k-10k
> dton range.  You would just need more of them to support the trade
> volumes than you would of 100k dton ships, at about the same total
> cost.

Yet this is not reflected in real-world experience: the trend has been to ever-larger container ships rather than more of them.

Why?

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs