Skorpius

Skorpius was an old, automated freighter in operation in the 23rd century.

It had five engines, two primary and three secondary ones, each using chemical propulsion. The vessel was able to travel between star systems. It had a cargo bay, retractable landing struts and a boarding ramp that extended down about 20 feet to ground level.

History
In 2273, the freighter brought Anton Zauber, Joann Zauber, and a medical droid from the Andorian system to the Tarsus system. Hidden within the hold was a laboratory containing a forming pod and an isolator unit. With the droid's help, Anton Zauber used the pod to alter his physical appearance into that of Doctor Leonard McCoy. The freighter landed near a fuel depot on Tarsus II. Anton caused a Rigellian fever epidemic, which lured McCoy to the planet. McCoy was kidnapped, locked inside the isolator, and beamed up to the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) along with the Zaubers. The droid and freighter were abandoned on the planet's surface. 

Background

 * A panel in the comic strip from March 9, 1980 stated that the freighter was automated, and that ship would pass a custom's search if not for the presence of the forming pod, suggesting that the pod may have been contraband. The panel was not reprinted in the omnibus The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1. (Dropped panels article at the Star Trek Comics Checklist.)