Hazards

Unless the player is working with very basic ships, the decommissioned ships they will encounter will feature a variety of onboard **hazards**. These might include live fuel and electrical systems, pressurized areas and reactor meltdowns, posing the risks of personal death and of destroying or losing valuable components. The number of different hazards present in any ship is reflected in its Hazard Level.

## Crush Hazards

Crush hazards are present on all ships at all Hazard Levels. Large and heavy pieces of salvage moving at speed, whether being grappled, tethered or pushed can damage the player's Work Suit and/or Helmet in a collision. If the player is sufficiently close to such salvage, they will experience both visual and audio crush warnings, and will appear to hold their hands up in fright. Players should always be aware of their surroundings when working with or around such salvage, and stay well clear of large items being tethered to their destination.

## Fuel

Fuel hazards will start to appear at Hazard Level 2 and above. They include Fuel Tanks and Pipes, along with their connected Thrusters. Live fuel hazards will leak if ruptured from a collision, or explode if hit with the player's Modular Laser Cutter. This can potentially damage or destroy other nearby salvage, as well as being dangerous to the player. Flammable objects will be set on fire if sufficiently close to a explosion.

Most fuel lines will have light indicators running along them; if they are lit, the fuel line is live. If the line has a Flush Switch, this can be used to safely purge fuel from the lines, allowing their Fuel Tanks to be safely disconnected and deposited on the Barge. Empty fuel lines can be safely cut through in order to free other components such as Nacelles.

Thruster units have a similar manual override switch to safely disconnect them from their fuel lines. As of Update 0.4.0, this will safely flush the Thruster and connected line instead of risking a rupture.

## Electrical

Electrical hazards will start to appear from Hazard Level 3 and onwards. These include sources of electrical power, such as Power Cells and Generators, power distribution components such as electrical cabling and Power Junction Boxes, and electronic components such as computer terminals. If damaged by a collision or explosion, these components will begin to spark and arc to nearby surfaces, potentially electrifying entire hull sections. This can damage other nearby equipment and salvage, including igniting flammable salvage and shattering coolant hazards, as well as being dangerous to the player.

Shipbreakers should exercise due care when removing electrical components. If dealing with a Power Generator, its Fuses should always be removed first to avoid damage to the Generator upon pulling it free.

## Reactors

The Reactor is the most valuable and dangerous component of any ship. All ships of Hazard Level 4 and above will spawn with a reactor, of either Class I or Class II depending on the ship. Being near a Reactor will induce both visual and audio distortions in the player's HUD, but they are not classed as a Radiation hazard.

Reactors begin melting down once removed from their housing, or, in Class II types, if both the coolant and fuel lines connected to them are flushed. The time until meltdown is represented by the number of white "pips" remaining in the meltdown timer which appears, with each pip representing approximately 10 seconds. Bumping the reactor into other objects during extraction will accelerate this process. While melting down, the reactor will emit purple electrical surges (also at approximately every 10 seconds) that can stun the player and chain to nearby objects, potentially igniting fuel lines. Surges on Class II reactors will also begin tearing their casing apart, and will increase in intensity as the meltdown sequence progresses. A reactor that fully melts down (or that is cut with the Modular Laser Cutter) will create a massive explosion, causing damage to the ship and player within a large area.

To safely extract Class I Reactors, the player should first clear a path for the Reactor, then remove it from its mounting plate and send it to the Barge as quickly as possible. This can be easily done using a Tether. Class I Reactors have 5 pips when pulled. For Class II reactors, the aluminum reactor casing should first be removed to expose the reactor core and both the fuel and coolant lines should be flushed, by disconnecting all Thrusters and removing all Coolant Canisters from the ECU respectively. This will increase the stability of the reactor from five pips to 10 (if one system is disconnected) or 15 (if both are disconnected), giving the player more time to safely extract and salvage it before it melts down.

## Pressurized Environments

Ships of Hazard Level 5 and above can be partly or fully pressurized with air. Breaching the ship's hull or door into such a pressurized environment can cause a explosive decompression event, where salvage gets ejected or destroyed as the air vents out into space. This is a particular problem if the ship contains free-floating salvage, which can fly around and cause damage in a decompression event. Gecko Salvage Runners are especially dangerous in this regard, as they tend to have large amounts of both volatile and free-floating items.

Before starting the salvage operation, the player can use the Scanner's different modes to assess the pressure states of different parts of the ship, and the presence of any free-floating items. In order to safely enter pressurized ships, players should use the ship's Airlock(s), provided they are still powered. Once inside, Atmosphere Regulators can be used to safely depressurize parts of the ship. Opening an internal door between pressurized and non-pressurized spaces will cause the air to rush from one into the other, in a rapid but controlled decompression. This process can be repeated throughout the ship until it is fully depressurized.

Some pressurized areas in a ship may not have an Atmosphere Regulator or a door to access them. Additionally, ships at very high Hazard levels may spawn pressurized and with no functioning Atmosphere Regulators anywhere in the ship. In such cases, an explosive decompression by cutting into either a door or external-facing panel is the only option to depressurize the ship. It may be desirable to first secure free-floating items, either with Tethers or moving them to a separate area of the ship, before attempting an explosive decompression. Such decompressions should generally be attempted through the *largest* possible panel or opening to minimise the velocity of the escaping air (in accordance with fluid dynamics), and subsequent damage to the rest of the ship.

## Coolant

Cryogenic hazards will begin to appear in ships of Hazard Level 6 and higher. This category includes Coolant Tanks, Pipes and Heat Sinks, as well as the Environmental Control Unit (ECU) connected to a Class II reactor. As with fuel hazards, live coolant hazards will leak if ruptured from a collision, or explode if hit with the player's Modular Laser Cutter. This can potentially damage or destroy other nearby salvage, as well as being dangerous to the player.

A coolant explosion will flash-freeze any salvage caught in the blast; this can be used to put out a fire, if one breaks out. Coolant lines leading from the ECU to the reactor can be flushed by removing the three Coolant Canisters from the ECU, by first grappling them and then picking them up. If the thruster lines have also been disconnected, this will trigger the reactor's meltdown sequence. Once emptied, the coolant line can be cut safely.

It is possible to encounter smaller Coolant lines which are unflushable and not connected to any other ship systems, in an identical manner to some Fuel Lines. Both of these are deliberate hazards for the player to work around, as they cannot be made safe by any normal means.

## Radiation

Radiation hazards will begin to appear in ships of Hazard Level 6 and higher. These take the form of Radiation Filters housed inside heavy Containment Units built into the ship's structure. If not handled with sufficient care during their removal, these Filters can release blue clouds of damaging radioactive particulate. A Geiger counter can be heard ticking if the player approaches this cloud, and entering it will damage the player with accompanying visual and audio distortions. If shot with the Modular Laser Cutter, the cloud will turn red and deal increased damage for a period of time. There are no Suit upgrades available to protect against Radiation damage.

Radiation clouds will gradually expand in size over time, and will eventually dissipate. Leaking coolant can be used to instantly neutralise a radiation cloud, but this may not be readily available. The best method to deal with Radiation hazards is to avoid releasing the radiation at all, by using the Stinger to cut the Radiation Filter free of its housing and then gently grappling it away from the rest of the ship, avoiding any panels or loose objects which might damage it. The Containment Unit can then be cut free and tethered to the Processor.

## Artificial Intelligence

*Main article:* Ghost Ships

On Ghost Ships, circular or oval AI Nodes litter the inside of the vessel in various locations. Until these nodes are eliminated, the ship's systems, particularly door controls and Atmosphere Regulators, may activate without the player interacting with them. This can subsequently result in explosive decompression events.

## Trivia

* Prior to version 0.4.0, Thrusters could only be safely disconnected by using a Utility Key, either found on the ship or purchased from the Master Jack.
* The rail-mail the player receives in Career play notifying them of the introduction of pressure hazards states that pressurization is the number one cause of death in the shipbreaking profession. The rail-mail also prohibits shipbreakers from intentionally explosively decompressing ships, despite this being the intended gameplay mechanic for high Hazard Level salvage jobs.

## Gallery

* The player receiving a crush warning.
* The aftermath of a reactor meltdown.
* A damaged ECU leaking coolant.