The ECS's logo
The Earth Cargo Service (or ECS) was the agency in charge of managing Earth's interstellar cargo fleet in the first half of the 22nd century.
History[]
The ECS Horizon, a J class Earth Cargo Service vessel.
Prior to the United Earth Starfleet's deployment of NX-class ships with warp five engines, ECS freighters were the only real presence that Earth had in the interstellar community. The crews of ECS ships would often spend years traveling between planets; thus, many members of these crews would be born and raised on ECS ships, and would take over operations of a ship after growing up. Prior to his Starfleet career, Travis Mayweather was born, grew up on, and worked on the starship ECS Horizon. The life of ECS starship crews were comprised of both routine and extreme danger as their cargoes made the ships very attractive to pirates. In the early years, ECS crews had more experience in space than many Earth Starfleet captains.
During the early 22nd century the ECS often relied on J class vessels. When the larger and faster Y class ships were introduced, the ECS began phasing out the J's in favor of the Y's. By 2151, designs for new cargo ships with engines capable of warp three were on the drawing board. (ENT episodes: "Broken Bow", "Fortunate Son", "Horizon")
In 2155, ECS ships were being targeted by unknown assailants. (ENT novel: Kobayashi Maru)
After the Federation was established in 2161, the Earth Cargo Service and similar civilian operations were folded into the Merchant Marine organization. (Adventures RPG module: Beta Quadrant Sourcebook)
Known ECS vessels[]
- ECS Bjarni Herjolfsson
- ECS Constellation
- ECS Fortunate
- ECS Harryhausen
- ECS Horizon
- ECS Ibn Battuta
- ECS Jules Verne
- ECS Kobayashi Maru
- SS Libra
- SS Long Beach
- SS Manhattan
- ECS North Star
- ECS Philadelphia
- ECS Silk Road
- ECS Voortrekker
Appendices[]
External link[]
- Earth Cargo Service article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.